In His Arms
by The Telepathic Hawk
Summary: Sessomaru comes across Kagome alone and broken. What happened? Where's Inuyasha? What is he going to do with a broken Miko who just pledged her life to him?
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from Inuyasha. I just like to use them. I make no profit from this.

Author's Note: Reviews are requested, but not required. I appreciate constructive criticism very much, but if you absolutely must flame, please be civil about it.

He could smell the arousal on her. Before he recognized the scent hidden underneath the intense desire, before he saw her. Before he realized the female he had been tracking for nearly an hour was human, he was drawn to her by a scent of desire unique to any other he had ever had the pleasure of seeking out. It was not overpowering and musky, like so many other human females put off when they desired to couple. That scent he'd been exposed to many a time in a dark night in a darker forest as he slipped quietly past humans coupling desperately, without grace or finesse. The scent disgusted him every time. And every time he had to hold back his primal side from tearing apart the humans who could disgust him so. Not that he minded killing humans, they were nothing to him. But why waste the time and ruin his clothes in the process? Nor was the scent powerfully sweet and seductive, a concoction meant to give males a heady, dizzy feeling and attract them to mate when the female wanted such attention. Such as a demon female put off when she was in heat or merely for play. Coupling was, after all, just as enjoyed by demons as it was by humans. He himself knew the mutual advantages when he coupled with a beautiful inu-yokai in need of release just as badly as himself.

No, this scent was distractingly different. A unique blend of lilies and a sharp spice he could not place. Underneath that was a scent the back of his mind recognized, but would not allow the front to process. The scent of arousal reached out gently, with no pretense, and caressed him like a female's soft hand. Leading him ever closer to the source of the desire. Now his own as well as the owner of the scent. He followed the scent willingly to where ever it might lead. His young ward was quite asleep and quite safe. His vassal watched over her well, despite his many grumblings and shortcomings on actual fields of battle. He knew, that if it came to it, his vassal would defend his small ward with his very life. This fact did nothing to move him. That was simply what was expected. Beside this, he could not remember the last time he had had a good tumble with an attractive female. And he was too proud and dignified to gain pleasure from the comfort of his own two hands. That would not do. So, why not have a tumble with this obviously aroused female who had to be inu-yokai as well? The female scent that had always attracted him the easiest was that of his own kind and this scent had captured him and worked it's way into his brain and loins so quickly that he was sure it had to be another inu-yokai.

He almost growled in frustration when he finally came upon the owner of the scent. How could he have been so blinded by his lust that he did not allow himself to recognize the scent underneath the arousal? How could this female be putting off such a delicious scent? Why had he followed so recklessly? Why, even now after he saw her and realized who, and what, she was, could he not control his desire for her? Why did she still arouse him and her scent haunt him? She was the very opposite of everything he had thought she would be. She was human. A most beautiful human, yes, but still a human! What was worse, she was his bastard hanyou brother's bitch.

He allowed himself a low growl from the back of his throat as he jumped silently from the tree in which he had rested momentarily. The sleeping female gave no indication that she had been disturbed by his landing and he moved closer, staring hard at her, trying to puzzle through many troubling questions. Why was this particular female out in the woods, populated by many demons, all alone. Inuyasha barely let his precious little miko out of his sight for five seconds, let alone leave her to her own devices in a wood with so many dangers to her fragile human life lurking about. Yes, where was his bastard little brother? More importantly at the moment, however, was how she could still be having this effect on him even after the realization of who she was, and who she belonged to. His desire was painful and straining as he crouched next to the sleeping miko and began to observe, rather than stare.

She was truly a wonder to behold. All beautiful planes and lush curves. Full, pouting lips, wondrous, stubborn little nose. He couldn't quite recall the color of her eyes, but he was sure they would be large and beautiful. More beautiful still, if they were glazed over with passion as she writhed and moaned beneath him as he strained and pumped above her. And right when they both reached the point of absolute pleasure he would break the tender skin in the joint between her neck and shoulder with his fangs and mark her as only his for all eternity. His growl of disgust at himself for even having such thoughts was loud as he bared his claws. To rid himself of the scent, and of his desire for her, he would just kill her. He'd almost done it on numerous occasions. Inuyasha had just been in the way. So why tonight, when she was alone and unprotected, did he hesitate?

Because you've always secretly desired your brother's woman, a voice whispered in his mind. Sesshomaru growled again, this time at the voice, telling him things he already knew and didn't want to hear.

"Oh, God," the woman whispered in her sleep. Sesshomaru's attention was drawn back to her as she turned to lay on her back, and began undulating her hips, her hands alternately gripping and relaxing on the fabric of her strange sleeping roll. She was still sleeping, he realized, and dreaming of coupling. That was the strong scent of desire. In her dream, she was coupling, and enjoying it immensely, it seemed. Her breathing was becoming ragged, accented every few seconds by a small moan or sigh. Her hips moved frantically, her face contorted in a look of concentration. Yes, she was enjoying what was happening, but it seemed climax evaded her. If she's fulfilled, the scent will go away, the voice in his head reasoned, You could force her to bring you pleasure as well, once you've given it to her. No one ever need know that you want her, not even your brother. They would probably see it as another reason to hate you, forcing yourself on her. No one has to realize but you and the woman the pleasure you gain from her hot mouth encircling you. Sucking . . . licking . . .

Sesshomaru once again cut off his mind with a growl. On a split second decision, he had ripped the top of the bed roll away from the woman. The back of his mind registered the surprise that she didn't wake at his violence, but his frontal thoughts were only for her body. She wore the absurd excuse for clothing she always had, but the skirt was hiked up to her waist, and he could see her juices thoroughly wetting her undergarments. She gave a small moan as the cold air touched her body, but did not awaken. He wasted no time and gathered her body close to him in one motion, setting her in his lap and cradling her. With the hand that was not supporting her, he pressed two fingers to her desire through the flimsy fabric of her absurd undergarments. She gasped and arched against his hand prettily, never waking. It was no surprise to him that she cried out when he moved aside the cloth and pressed the same two fingers deep inside of her, careful, for reasons unknown even to him, that he did not damage her in any way with his claws. Her arms came up to grip his kimono and he smiled wickedly when she once again arched beneath him. He began thrusting his fingers in and out of her, slowly, watching her face go though various stages of concentration and an almost pleasure because he wasn't quite willing to give her what she wanted yet.

It was only when she was sheened with sweat that had nothing to do with the fire they were next to, writhing beneath his careful touch, and panting like an inu-yokai bitch in heat that he began to accelerate the rate of his thrusts into her. Her hips rose to meet him, her fingers gripped tightly, and her voice raised as she cried out again and again. He felt her movements become more desperate as she tensed, in anticipation of her close climax. At that moment, just when she was teetering on the edge, he leaned down, removed his fingers and nipped gently on the prominent bud of her desire. She screamed with her release, long and without words and he could smell her climax, a hundred times more powerful than her desire. It made his own arousal jump and he had to fight to keep himself under control. Not yet. It would be so much better when she brought him to it.

He felt the stiffening of her body as she began to come awake, realizing she was in someone's unfamiliar arms. She tilted her head up and looked at him, blinking to rid her mind of the last clouds that covered it.

"Sesshomaru?" She mouthed his name without sound and her eyes went wide with shock.

"Yes, beautiful little miko." The words were said sarcastically. The growl was not patient or gentle, nor was the way he nuzzled her cheek, hard enough to bruise, "I have brought you great pleasure this night. I think it is about time you returned the favor. Wouldn't you agree?"

Her look of horror only made him laugh. Then, something he didn't expect. The look of horror was replaced by one of obedience. She inclined her head toward him in consent and moved to get out of his arms. He was shocked enough into letting her go and could only stare as she knelt in front of him and studied how to open his clothing. He finally shot out an arm and wrapped his fingers around her neck menacingly when she reached out to begin removing his armor. A closer study of her waking body brought him new information and new questions. Her face, always beautiful, was drawn and tight with her consciousness, her eyes filled to the brim with tears that would not spill. She seemed thinner than normal, more worn. There was a depth of sorrow to the way she looked at him that he could not place and the fire that had burned deep in her heart and radiated from everything she did seemed to have gone out. She stared at him openly and frankly as his claws tightened, cutting off her air. He didn't even realize he had been squeezing until her hand dropped from his armor and her eyes began to roll back in her head. With a sneer, he threw her to the ground and watched dispassionately as she fought to regain her breath.

"Where is Inuyahsa, woman? Has he finally descended into Hell with his dead miko?" She was still fighting to breathe and could not answer. He did not know why, but her inability suddenly angered him. Before she could even attempt an answer, his booted foot had connected solidly with her ribs. He felt two or three of them crack and winced inwardly. He had wanted to scare the miko, not hurt her. He would gain no information if she was in too much pain to speak to him.

"Answer me, wench." His voice took on the ice cold edge that could make the most powerful of demons shudder. The woman crawled closer to him so that she was kneeling at his feet, her face practically in the dirt.

"I do not know, my lord." The voice he heard come from her was one he had not heard before. It was flat, void of the life and energy that had annoyed him so on their previous encounters and haunted his dreams in between them.

"You do not know or you will not tell me?"

"I do not know, my lord," she repeated, "Your half brother, along with my friends and my kit, disappeared nearly a month ago. I have been searching for them since. I awoke in the middle of the night and they were all gone. There was no trace that they had ever existed there at all. They simply vanished into the night with no trace."

"What night, miko?" Sesshomaru dropped to his knees, fisted a hand in her long black hair, and jerked her head upward so that he could look her in the eyes.

"The full moon, my lord," she answered.

"You would not lie to me, miko?" He punctuated the question by using his free hand and driving his claws into her shoulder. He reveled in her scream as it echoed and pushed until he could see the tips of his claws protruding from her back.

"No, my lord!" She cried, life entering her voice through the pain, "I would not lie to you!"

"You say you have been searching?"

"Yes, my lord!"

"And you have found no trace?"

"None, my lord!"

Sesshomaru retracted his claws from her body and felt her relax until he dragged one from it's position, down her chest, to her belly, effectively slicing open her shirt and her skin. The wound was deep and seeped blood into his clothing. He watched, fascinated, as the deep crimson that flowed from her body stained the white fabric. When he brought his eyes back to her level, he realized that hers had not moved and continued to stare.

"You will halt your search, wench. Now that Inuyasha is gone you belong to me. Do you understand? You are my slave. Say it." The order was cold, not angry, but it made her flinch. He expected her to fight. He expected that she would struggle and he would have a perfectly legitimate excuse for killing her.

He did not expect her to look into his eyes and whisper, "Yes, my lord. From this day forward I am your slave for you to do with that which you choose. Forgive me, my lord. I am going to faint." He was stunned into speechlessness as she did exactly as she had claimed and went limp.

This was interesting.


	2. Chapter 2

All previous disclaimers apply.

Consciousness was slow in coming to Kagome. She came up from the darkness that had consumed her for an indeterminate amount of time only to hover in a state of fog. Her mind was caught somewhere between sleep and wakefulness with no way for her to fall back into the former or rouse herself into the latter. She knew this feeling only too well, it had happened to her often enough to leave a lasting impression upon her. She was being kept purposefully in a state of haze, a state of helplessness. Someone had drugged her. Only, this seemed slightly different from other times she had been drugged. There was an aura of pain waiting just above the fog. Pain she was feeling as if she wasn't truly feeling it at all. As if it were someone else's pain. So, she had been drugged for her own good. To keep her out of the pain that her body was experiencing. Only one person would be so kind to her. Kaede.

With the thought of Kaede, her mind became more aware and with the awareness, memories flooded back to her in a wave. Waking in the middle of the night. All alone. No one was there. The lack of Shippou's warmth in her arms was what had woken her. She was next to the fire as she had been, but Inuyasha, Miroku, Shippou, Sango, and Kirara, they were all gone. A closer inspection of the camp had made her see that it was as if they had never been there at all. The only equipment was her own. The only footprints were her own. She had returned to Kaede's village with utmost haste, asking if they had come through. No one in the village had seen them, but all remembered perfectly well who they were, saving Kagome from complete madness. Kaede had insisted that Kagome not go out on her own for a search, but Kagome had not listened.

For one month she had been searching for them, all of her friends. Outside of Kaede's village, however, no one seemed to have ever heard of any of them. Even villages Kagome was sure they'd passed through, even stirred up trouble in, seemed to have no memory of the hanyou, the kitsune, the demon slayer, or the monk. Slowly she had stopped looking in villages. She had ventured further and further into unmarked territories, littered with danger. She questioned the wild peoples she met, she questioned the friendlier demons. She questioned the unfriendly demons. Every time something tried to do her any bit of harm, she lost consciousness, only to wake a time later alone again. She was being driven to the edge of her sanity. She began talking to the air as she prepared food for herself. More than once she found she had prepared a meal for all of them before she remembered she was alone.

The nights were her only freedom from the madness that had begun to haunt her. The nights had always been a surprisingly welcomed time of escape. Now, they were all that kept her sane. The simple predictability of them. She dreamt, as always, of Sesshomaru. She had never told Inuyasha, but she had dreamt of his brother from the day she had first laid eyes on him. He was fascinating, so beautiful and so alien to her. His aloof attitude and simple arrogance interested her. He was just so . . . royal. Though, in her dreams he was anything but aloof. In her dreams, he ran his hands over all of her body, every inch covered by his hands, his lips, his tongue. In her dreams, they joined desperately, or quietly, romantically, or like animals. All she knew was that in her dreams he brought her pleasure beyond her wildest reckoning and she, in turn, gave the same to him. More than once, even as he tried to kill her, she had seen the naked lust in his eyes when he watched. She assumed it was what fueled the dreams and had not been concerned with them.

Then, he had found her. Waking in his arms had been the final shock to her system. Knowing he had brought her true pleasure in the night had been more than she could take. Kagome knew she hadn't truly lost her mind at that point, but it had been something close to it. She had suddenly felt like a simpleton, willing to do anything and everything he told her and enjoy it. At the time he had woken and questioned her she gladly would have killed herself if he had asked it. The pain he had put her through had only solidified that fact in her mind. At that moment she had been exactly what she had told him she was. His slave. Part of her mind told her it was the shock of dealing with the civilized after so long dealing with uncivilized. But, then again, how civilized could Sesshomaru be when he thought nothing of ramming his claws though her shoulder? There was really only one explanation. Really, many small reasons that accumulated to form the explanation. She had been exhausted beyond her breaking point, he had been the first to question her before attacking in a very long time, and subconsciously she had always wanted Inuyasha's older brother to do exactly what he'd done to her that night. She had always wanted him to dominate her the way Inuyasha had too much pride to do. The combination of the three, and her disappointment in not yet finding any trace of her friends, had made her his slave. For a short time.

Now though, when she felt at least partially rested, she realized what she had done. And what he had done to her. The pain was caused by him. The humiliation and shame that coursed though her like a sick, hot wave was caused by her actions and her actions alone. In her drug-induced haze she wished once again that she could die. She had given her pledge to Sesshomaru to be his slave, a pledge he would not let her break easily, if ever. She was confident that he would never again touch her in any sexual manner. After all, he hated humans almost as much as he hated his hanyou brother. Why then, had he touched her in such a way, even once? Just the remembrance of his fingers deep within her made her mind light in a twisted pleasure. She had more control over her body than she thought through the haze and was startled when she realized the shamed moan she had been expressing in her head had also come from her mouth.

Whomever was watching her seemed to take the moan, not as a symbol of shame, but as a symbol of pain. She had no choice, given her state, when a hand lifted her head and tilted it back. She could not fight as a strong liquid was poured down her throat. She could not even resist swallowing when another hand stroked her throat, forcing the liquid down. She knew what it was the moment it was down. Slowly, she began drifting lower into the fog. Farther from the pain, down, down, into the comforting arms of the black reaching for her. She went willingly into those arms, where she didn't even have to think anymore.


	3. Chapter 3

All previous disclaimers apply.

"How fares the human, my beautiful love?" A handsome male inu-yokai slipped into the darkened room where his mate, a sly and beautiful kitsune, cared for the human that their lord had brought with him to the palace after a night away. The kitsune waited a beat, leaning over quite farther than she had to to place a cool compress to the miko's warm forehead. She waited until she heard her mate swallow harshly and laughed from deep in her throat at the effect she was still able to have on him.

Miyuki smiled as she straightened and turned to look into her mate's eyes. She had been nothing more than a common thief when Paru, her handsome mate, had found her. Rather, when she had found him. After an intense battle with some very well-armed villagers she had found him lying half dead at the bank of a river. She had always had a knack for healing, despite her chosen profession and had fallen in love with his handsome face as she nursed him carefully back to health. He told her when he woke that he had fallen in love with her voice as she tended to him. He was Paru, the captain of Lord Sesshomaru's guard and leader of his troops, and he loved her desperately. He asked that she return with him to the West and the Lord's castle city. She had agreed, more than a little nervous to be around none but inu-yokai.

At first, life within the capital city of the Western lands had been hard. None of the inu-yokai wanted a kitsune in their city. Of course, they did not say this to Paru. He was the captain of the guard. It was more behind Miyuki's back that they whispered when they knew she could hear them, slowly tearing down her confidence. The only thing that kept her sane was the intense love she felt for her mate. For him she would do anything, even live in a city for all of time where she wasn't wanted. She had proven herself when the capital had been attacked and she had saved many of the higher up lords and ladies that had been opposing her presence in the capital city with no words of hate and simple healing spells to get rid of most of their small hurts. After that day, and when she was able to heal a deadly wound to Lord Sesshomaru himself, she was accepted as part of life in the capital. The only creature not an inu-yokai accepted as part of life in the capital. She had proven herself again and again, always in the heat of battle or in the houses of healing. Her honorary rank matched her mate's within a short period of time. Lord Sesshomaru trusted her with his life as much as he trusted Paru.

It was why Lord Sesshomaru had entrusted her with the life of the strange human woman he had returned with. She was a miko, a powerful one. And Lord Sesshomaru wanted her alive. Miyuki couldn't fathom why, but it was not her job to ask questions. It was her job to heal the human. So she did.

"She heals well, though I am not prepared to allow her to awaken quite yet. She could open her healing wounds in her panic when she first wakes."

"Panic? Why should she panic?" Paru wrapped his arms around his mate's waist from behind, pulling her flush up against him, displaying to her his obvious want for her, and sucked on her neck. She pulled away from him quickly. More than a hundred years spent with her love and still they couldn't keep their hands off of each other.

"Not here, love. There is another in the room."

"She is drugged," Paru advanced on her again, "She would not realize."

"It is not morally something I am willing to do," Miyuki laughed, quickly dodging his wandering hands and facing off with him from the opposite side of the futon. She knelt next to her charge, checked her bandages and purposefully ignored her very frustrated mate.

"Miyuki," his voice took on a purposefully young edge, "We haven't mated for so long. You're always here with the miko. I understood when she hovered between life and death, but now there is no fear for her life. I need you, my love."

"Anticipation makes the pleasure greater, dear heart. You can wait until this evening when we retire to our quarters." Miyuki forced herself to say the words to her mate, despite how much she, too, missed mating with him. She stood and walked to him. Her only move was to place a quick, chaste kiss to his lips.

"You are evil, my mate," he groaned.

"Would you have me any other way?" Her smile was pained as she looked up into his eyes and he knew she was fighting to keep herself in control as well.

"No," he consented, "Now, why would she panic?" He reached for her again, she pulled away, and he raised his hands, a smile of defeat on his face.

"You are a powerful miko. The lord of the Western lands has almost killed you. You know this. You begin to come awake again and again only to be drugged again and again. You know this as well. When you finally do wake, you wake in a room with a demon hovering over you in the palace of a demon in a city of demons. Are you calm or do you panic?"

"Point taken." Paru nodded in appreciation of her logic. Most demons could fight as well as they dared to train, but simple logic escaped them.

"Paru, my love, what is so special about this human that Lord Sesshomaru keeps her alive and has her nursed back to health?" Miyuki dared to ask the question. Her mate was the confidante and closest friend, if you could say that Lord Sesshomaru had any friends, to their lord.

"She is his newest slave, from what he's told me," Paru frowned, staring down at the young woman, "Inuyasha's bitch."

"Inuyasha? Lord Sesshomaru's hanyou half brother?"

"Yes. Lord Sesshomaru found her alone in the woods. She told him that Inuyasha and his traveling company, excluding herself, all disappeared on the night of the last full moon. She pledged her life and loyalty to him."

"After he had nearly killed her," Miyuki said, no anger, merely stating a fact. Paru nodded in agreement. The answer she had given him was not the answer she had wanted, and he knew it. They had no secrets and if she asked, he would give her the answer he knew she had been searching for, but he rather hoped she would employ a different means to get her answers than simply asking him. He wasn't disappointed.

"Why do you think he keeps her?" Miyuki plastered herself against him and wrapped a leg around his hip.

"You will not use the prospect of mating to get information out of me, female," he growled playfully.

"Won't I?" she murmured, pressing her lower body harshly to his and biting back her own moan, "Why do you really think he keeps her, my love?"

"Sesshomaru has always had a fascination with his brother's bitch. He would not admit it, but I have seen the lust in his eyes when he speaks of her. For the short term, I think perhaps he might want to couple with her. His feral side recognizes her power. It knows that she would almost make the perfect mate. Strong, healthy, and of breeding age, with a mothering instinct good for bearing children. More powerful than himself in some ways. Dependent upon his strength in others should she remain here in the capital and in his presence and completely beautiful. If she were not human, she would make the perfect mate and he knows it. I think perhaps his feral side may even want to mate her. It seems the fascination the lords of the Western lands feel for humans is hereditary."

"A human? A miko no less?" Miyuki gasped, half from the shock of his words, half from her desire.

"Yes," Paru moaned, grinding against her.

"I think that she could be good for him. Obviously none of the inu bitches entice him and he will need to provide an heir one of these days. The miko's power combined with his strength could produce some very powerful children indeed. If only he could move past his hatred of humans. He is improving, taking in Young Mistress Rin and all, but there is such a long way to go before he'll admit his deepest desire and mate a human. How can he justify the hatred of his brother if he produces children exactly like him?" Miyuki allowed Paru to pick her up and carry her into the adjoining room. She worked quickly and skillfully to undo his kimono.

"Therein lies the problem. Though I think as well that the miko would be the perfect mate for our lord," Paru gasped as she held his pleasure in her hand. He pulled up her excuse for clothing to reveal her in all of her glory to him.

"Maybe we should help the relationship along." Miyuki moaned as he pushed her against the wall and held her there.

"Yes. We will," Paru agreed on a growl as he positioned himself and joined with his mate. She screamed with fulfillment as he entered her, "We will," Paru promised on a moan just before they both stopped thinking and surrendered themselves to their passion.


	4. Chapter 4

All previous disclaimers apply.

"My lady Miko," a soft, gentle voice that she didn't recognize was calling her up and out of the healing fog that had wrapped her in it's safe arms for so long. She fought the voice for as long as she could. When she was in the fog she didn't have to think about missing her child, her friends, she didn't have to think about what she and Inuyasha had done just the night before they had all disappeared, and she didn't have to think about Sesshomaru.

Sesshomaru. Just his name made a sick, hot wave run through her body that left her nauseous and with a headache that she wasn't entirely sure wasn't caused by no longer being kept in a constant state of fog by drugging. She had pledged her life to him, had declared herself that she was to be his slave. Such a pact could not be broken easily, if Sesshomaru allowed her to break it at all. She doubted that he would. The idea of being his slave was not what sickened her. She was not afraid of hard work. She was strong from her many moths and battles in this era. She could make herself into an acceptable slave if there was no other choice. What sickened her was the way she had just given into him without a fight on so many different levels. Nothing about him sickened her. In his position she would have probably done the same things. No, she just disgusted herself.

Along with her self-loathing came an even deeper emotion that she was not ready to confront quite yet. Grief. If she was Sesshomaru's slave, there was no way that he's allow her to continue her search for the kitsune she had adopted as her own child and all of her friends. What if they were trapped somewhere? What if they needed her? There would be no way that she could get to them. For all intents of purposes, she now had to consider them all dead to her. She felt her chest tighten and her stomach revolt violently at the thought. So, she pushed it to the back of her brain. She couldn't think about right now. If she did, she would kill herself. She was strong, yes, but she wasn't that strong. Once she had settled into her new life here in this city where she felt yokai all around, she would allow herself to mourn alone at night.

She allowed herself one final thought on the matter before closing it down in her mind. No mother, adoptive or not, should have to mourn the death of her child.

"My lady Miko, please wake up now. You must wake up and eat something."

Kagome opened her eyes slowly, waiting for a blinding light that never came. Instead, only soft flickering candlelight met her eyes. Leaning over her was a beautiful kitsune with bright eyes and a smile on her beautiful face. Without words, the kitsune helped her to sit up, making soothing hums when Kagome gasped in pain at the white hot lightning that flashed through her body as her shoulder was moved in a way contrary to the healing flesh.

"How do you feel?" the kitsune questioned.

"Like I've been kept asleep for weeks," Kagome answered dryly, wincing as her throat protested.

"Only two," the kitsune answered honestly as she placed and earthen cup to Kagome's lips and helped her to drink, "I did not want to take the chance that you would awaken in a panic and then undo all of my fine healing to your body."

"Where am I?"

"Nishi, Lord Sesshomaru's castle city."

"And you are?"

"Miyuki. The general of Nishi."

"And that means?"

"So many questions!" Miyuki surprised Kagome by smiling and throwing her hands in the air in a playful show of frustration, "My lady Miko, there will be time for questions later. Right now I think that it would be best if you bathed, had something to eat, and then came back to bed." Kagome looked at her pointedly, "To sleep. I do not want your body to become addicted to the pain medications." Miyuki added when Kagome lifted an eyebrow in question, "Do you think that you can move?"

Without a word, Kagome stood as fast as she could, wanting to prove to Miyuki that she was at least strong enough to stand and walk on her own. She was grateful when Miyuki caught her before she could fall down again.

"Slowly, My lady Miko, slowly. You have been abed for a very long while. It will take time for your body to be the same again. For now you must take things very slowly. Please do not reject my help, my lady. I only want to help you."

"Help me?" Kagome scoffed, "A slave? And you a general. That doesn't make much sense, does it?"

"Perhaps not," Miyuki agreed as she helped Kagome through the dark halls, "But, Lord Sesshomaru has given strict orders that you are to be treated with every respect that the new position he has decided to grace you with demands."

"Where is Lord Sesshomaru?" Kagome asked, suddenly aware that she had not seen him at all. Miyuki giggled when Kagome's eyes darted around the hall as if expecting Sesshomaru to come out of the shadows of the walls.

"He is touring his domain, as he must once every year. He will return once he has seen to the happiness and safety of all those on his lands."

"And how long will that be?" Kagome asked warily, almost afraid of the answer.

"At least two moons." Miyuki answered, opening the door to the bathing room, "Perhaps longer if there is any trouble in any number of the villages.

Kagome sighed happily, half from the news that she would not have to see Sesshomaru for the time being and from seeing the bathing room. Most of it was a large heated hot spring, laid with flat stones to keep the bottom and the sides smooth. To the side of the room stood small spigots for washing. She felt a little embarrassed when Miyuki began to undress her, but felt weak as a kitten and knew that she would never be able to do it herself. She drew the line, however, at Miyuki washing her. Miyuki smiled and nodded at the request.

"I will go find you some sleeping clothes," she bowed, "Please stay in the shallowest end of the hot spring. I would rather not come back to find you drowned because you fell asleep in the water."

Kagome did not allow herself to think as she washed, and then crawled over to the hot spring on her hands and knees, too weak to stand. If she allowed herself to think, she would allow herself to mourn. If she allowed herself to mourn she might just drown herself purposefully. When she was finally sitting in the water, she allowed herself to think on a different matter. Miyuki had said that she was to be treated with the respect the new position Sesshomaru was going to give her demanded. So, her position would demand respect. What kind of position could it be that demanded respect for a slave? She decided to ask when Miyuki came back.

"My lady Miko," Miyuki entered the room again with clothing draped across her arms.

"Kagome."

"I'm sorry?"

"If I am to be a slave and you are a general than it only makes sense that you do not call me 'my lady.' My name is Kagome."

"Your new position is not that of a slave, Kagome," Miyuki said quietly, as she helped the weak girl out of the hot spring, "Were anyone to treat you like a slave save for Lord Sesshomaru he would kill them as a matter of protection of your honor. No one here will treat you as a slave. Whether you decide that a slave is what Lord Sesshomaru has made you or not is up to you and no one else."

"Miyuki," Kagome stared off into space as Miyuki set about drying her hair, "What position has Lord Sesshomaru decided I should fill?"

Miyuki hesitated for a moment and then whispered so that Kagome barely caught the words, "You are to be his most favored concubine, Kagome. You are now a courtesan."


	5. Chapter 5

All previous disclaimers apply.

"You are to be his most favored concubine, Kagome. You are now a courtesan."

The words ran through Kagome's mind again and again as she sat patiently on the floor and waited as the servant whose name she had never even gotten pulled and twisted her hair up in an elaborate style befitting her new position. For the past week and a half Kagome had been allowed to simply rest and regain her strength. But, now that she was almost as well as she had been before being brought to Sesshomaru's castle city on the verge of death it was time that she learn what was to be expected of her new position. Miyuki had often sat with her during her healing time and spoken to her quietly, informing her as to the way things worked in Nishi. She was a courtesan to a taiyokai, which meant she was more like a geisha than anything else. She would be expected to know how to entertain the Sesshomaru's guests, how to make appropriate conversation with them without disgracing her lord. And when he wanted her, she was to be his lover. She would be the only one seen at his side by the other lords until such a day as he married. Then, she would disappear, one of the many concubines he kept to appease himself when he felt the need.

Kagome felt sick to her stomach and made a low moan. Though she hadn't even heard her enter, Miyuki placed a deep bowl, almost a bucket, at Kagome's knees and made soothing noises as the young woman emptied her stomach into it. Kagome did not even see the servant who took it away as she allowed Miyuki to set a cup of water to her lips and rinsed, spitting into another bowl. She did this until she could no longer taste the bile and opened her mouth obediently for Miyuki to set mint leaves in for her to chew.

Miyuki rubbed the girl's back and nodded at the hairdresser to continue. She was worried about the young miko who had taken what had to be shocking news to her with grace and acceptance. Kagome had not been eating or sleeping very well at all and what little she did manage to eat only came back up when she thought about her new position here. Miyuki wanted to hold her close and comfort her, to tell her that everything would be all right. She had come to like the girl very much, catching a glimpse of fiery spirit every once in a great while as they spoke quietly. Her eyes would blaze before deadening again as Miyuki explained that without Sesshomaru's permission she was not to look another man in the eye. Her eyes could brighten when Miyuki laid next to her when she was supposed to be napping and whispered stories to her about Paru as if they were two old friends. But, in between such times she was so dead to the world and everything that happened in it. She had regained enough strength to move on her own, but she was too thin, there were hollows in her cheeks that should not have been there. There were shadows in her eyes that Miyuki could not find the source of. She had accepted her position with grace and dignity befitting a queen. What could possibly make her mourn so?

"Kagome," Miyuki had whispered just the night before as the Miko had been kept awake by restlessness, "You are a very powerful miko, I can feel the power in you. Why have you not just purified us all and walked out of the city?"

"I can't," the miko had revealed, turning her face away, though not in time that Miyuki hadn't seen the tears in her eyes, "Not that I haven't thought about it, but I can't. I would be killing so many innocents and I . . . I cannot draw upon the power in my body any longer."

"What do you mean?"

"I feel it there all the time, like a glow, but I can no longer pull it to the surface to use."

"Why not?"

"I am no longer pure."

"Miyuki," Kagome's voice brought the general out of her memories, "What am I doing today?"

"You are to meet the other concubines today. They will teach you the proper conduct, how to dance, proper conversation. You will have much to learn, Kagome. But, I have faith that you will be ready when Lord Sesshomaru returns and that he will be very pleased with you."

"Yes. Pleased. I do hope I please him. Will it please him to see me broken?" Kagome's voice was full of bitterness.

Miyuki put her arms around the Miko, who stiffened, then relaxed into the embrace, "You are not broken, Kagome. Your spirit can never be broken."

"I am broken, Miyuki," Kagome murmured, glad to have one source of friendship in this alien world. She felt no need to lie to Miyuki. The general had surprised her with the warm and caring attitude she had taken when speaking with her. Kagome had not been surprised to learn that the rank of general that she held was an honorary one, "I can't seem to find my spirit. It was lost with my child."

"Child?" Miyuki whispered.

"My beautiful Shippou. My adopted son."

"You will find your spirit again, Kagome. I guarantee it. Come now. We must get you dressed. You must begin your training."

"Of course."

Kagome allowed herself to be dressed in the elaborate kimono and followed Miyuki to what she had begun to refer to in her mind, though she had not yet seen it, as the harem. She was surprised when Miyuki slid the door open to a beautiful gardened courtyard where everything smelled sweet and the sun was bright and cheery. Someone had been playing music, but stopped when the door was opened. Kagome looked up to see seven women gazing at her with open expressions of curiosity and one with open aggression. They were all inu-yokai, beautiful in their own ways. All sat straight and tall, none of them looked ashamed to be who they were. They were concubines to a great taiyokai. There was honor in such a position, and stability.

"Ladies," Miyuki smiled.

"Good afternoon, Miyuki."

"Hello, Miyuki, what have you brought us?"

"She's a pretty little thing, isn't she?"

"Just lovely."

"Look at those eyes."

"Of course, Lord Sesshomaru only picks the best, doesn't he?"

"Well, of course, look at all of us!"

"She's human and reeks of it," the female who had been staring at her with such hostility growled suddenly amidst the giggles of the other seven and sneered at Kagome's passive face, "We'll see how long she's able to keep his attention." She swept past Kagome quickly, not even bothering to look at her.

"Oh," one of the other women rushed over to Kagome and took her arm gently, "Please do not let Leiko upset you, little sister. She was considered our lord's most favored though he had not labeled her as such until you came along. And she has always been sour anyway. The only time she puts on a pleasant face is with the lord. Do not let her upset you. Miyuki, we can handle her from here. You'll find the rest of us are much sweeter in personality. My name is Etsu and I have decided that we will be fast friends. Your name is Kagome, yes?"

"Yes," Kagome was surprised enough into shock that she put up no fuss as Etsu led her into the courtyard and Miyuki slid the door closed behind them.

"Look at the little sister our lord has brought to us," Etsu announced to the others. They all smiled at Kagome as they stood and gathered around her, touching her hair, her face, exclaiming over her eyes.

"Do not look so afraid , child," another smiled gently at her, "Ladies, give her some space. My name is Hoshiko. I will be teaching you how to play. Etsu you have met. She will be teaching you conversation. The twins are Akina and Cho. They will teach you to dance. Hiroko will teach you how to paint. Aiko will teach you many songs that please the lord to have sung to him. And Kaida will be teaching you about the art of making love and what the lord will expect of you when you are together in the dark. Are you quite all right, little sister?"

Hoshiko had noticed that Kagome had set a hand to her forehead and was rocking on her heels.

"Oh, little sister," Etsu rushed to her side and took her arm again, "Come sit down. Shame on us. All of this must be so new to you. So much to take in at one time. But, I promise you, little sister, you will learn in no time."

"I . . ." Kagome sat on the cushion Etsu had led her to and burst into tears. The women fluttered about, one wetting a cloth to set to the back of her neck, one fetching her something cool to drink, one rubbing her wrists sympathetically.

"Little sister," Kagome looked up at the low, smoky voice she had not yet heard and realized it was Kaida, the one to teach her about the act of making love, "I know that you were brought here against your will. Miyuki has told us all as much and that right now this might seem as if it is the end of your world as you know it. I thought so too, when I was brought to Nishi as tribute from my village to the lord. But, this is a good life. We are treated well here, we never go hungry, the lord gives us beautiful clothes and jewels when we please him. Lord Sesshomaru is a gentle lover, little sister, and a generous one. He will not hurt you. You are to be his favored. He has already told us as much. He is a good man. I think that when he returns you will learn to appreciate him just as we have."

"I do not envy you your position as the favored, little sister," Aiko murmured as she stroked Kagome's neck to soothe her, "For, unlike the rest of us you will not be allowed to take your own lovers when the lord has not requested your presence, but you will have the best rooms, and servants of your own, and you will accompany the lord to court. It will be a good life, little sister. The best you may have been able to expect. I must admit I was surprised greatly when the lord told us he was taking a miko as his favored, but I saw his eyes, little sister. He will be good to you."

"Now that I have seen you, I think I understand." One of the twins giggled.

"These eyes," the other giggled identically, "And these things across your nose, as if the sun has kissed you and left a tiny shadow. What are they?"

"Freckles." Kagome smiled just a little, beginning to feel more comfortable among the inuyokai concubines who were trying so hard to comfort her and make her smile.

"And is this the only place you have them?"

"A few on my shoulders from spending too much time in the sun scantily clad as a child," she admitted.

"The lord will love them."

"But, sisters," she was amazed at how easily the term of affection came to her mouth, "How can I accept a life that is not my own?" Kagome whispered, "As so many of you have?"

"You learn to change what you want out of life, little sister. You make this new life your own."

"Kagome-lady!" Kagome's eyes darted up at the happy voice that called out to her. The others smiled at Miyuki's quick thinking when they saw the joy that spread across their new sister's face to see the child running across the courtyard to them. Hiroko had known what it was like to lose a child, though it had been many years before and she had since healed, but she had seen the sentiment echoed on Kagome's face. She prayed with all her might that her new little sister would be able to exchange this little one for the child she had lost in her heart, because if she didn't find some happiness soon she was going to wither, as Hiroko had almost done. Lord Sesshomaru had given her a reason to live by allowing her to seek her own lover within his ranks. Though he never told anyone and neither did she, he never came to her room anymore. The lover she had found was the love of her life and Sesshomaru had never interfered with that. She had seen the look in his eyes Aiko had mentioned and prayed that the man she had come to respect more than any other had finally met his true soul match in this miko who made his eyes dance. She laughed along with the others as Little Mistress Rin ran right into Kagome's open arms and snuggled into them.

"Hello, Rin," Kagome whispered in her unruly hair.

"Will you be here for a very long time, Kagome-lady?"

"Yes, Rin," there was only a shade of resentment in her voice, "A very long time."

"Right," Etsu smiled, "Mistress Rin, run along now. Or stay and watch. But, Kagome must begin her lessons if we are to have her prepared for Lord Sesshomaru's arrival. Shall we begin, little sister?"

Kagome looked up, "Let's."


	6. Chapter 6

All previous disclaimers apply.

"Kagome!" Kagome was surprised when the door to the bathing room was thrown open as she sat in the bath, playing in the warm water with Rin. Over the past two months she had become accustomed to life in Nishi. Every morning she would wake up and take breakfast with the other concubines, most of whom had become her good friends in a very short period of time. Leiko, on the other hand, was another story. The haughty concubine had kept her distance from Kagome, swearing that she could not be in the same room with the miko who stank like the human scum she was. Most of the time Kagome just considered it a blessing, because all of the others had told her that this was the way Leiko always behaved with the rest of them as well. Kaida was a low class village rat. Hoshiko was an old granny who could never hope to entice a man into her bed even if she offered to pay him. There was something wrong with all of them when it came to Leiko. But, she had never before refused to stay in a room they were in. They all thanked Kagome often for being human if it meant that they did not have to deal with Leiko. Kagome had absolutely no idea what she did with her time when she was never in the gardens or touring the courtyards with the rest of them.

Often, Rin would join her at breakfast, sitting on her lap as they all ate, opening her mouth sweetly when Kagome said that she needed to eat, too. If she did not have lessons in the day Rin would spend the entire day in Kagome's company, sitting and listening or watching as Kagome did her own lessons. Shortly after noon meal, during Kaida's lessons to Kagome, she would lay her head in Kagome's lap and fall fast asleep as Kagome listened to Kaida and stroked her hair. After her nap they would bathe together, often for nearly an hour. After they were both clean it was more play than anything else, but neither Kagome nor Rin would have missed it. The others were happy to see the hollows in Kagome's cheeks filling in. The shadows in her eyes, while not completely gone, were greatly diminished.

Kagome still saw much of Miyuki. The kitsune general would often join her for evening meal and they would speak for hours like good friends. Miyuki spoke openly about her love for Paru and how hard life had been in Nishi for such a very long time. Kagome often told her tales of hunting for jewel shards. Miyuki noticed that she never mentioned Sesshomaru's brother's name, preferring just to call him 'he' or 'Lord Sesshomaru's brother.' Miyuki had made it a point to Aiko to ask Kagome about it. The courtesan had come to her saying that she had been unable to get any information out of Kagome at all. He, her friends, and the child she had lost were closed topics to anyone. Kagome simply would not speak on them. So, Miyuki had learned to let it go. She was willing to do so only because Kagome had regained so much of the spirit that had always seemed to fascinate Sesshomaru in the past. She was often outspoken, and infuriating, but she was so dear that no one could remain angry at her for long.

Life had settled into a wonderful pattern that satisfied Kagome very much, even as she was forbidden from leaving the castle grounds, which angered her. It was just until Sesshomaru returned and officially named her his favored, Miyuki assured her often. She felt it was a little unusual that Kagome would have taken to her new position so well and so soon after seeing Rin again until she realized one day that Kagome had simply made a choice to block out everything unpleasant from her mind. She had not truly mourned the loss of her friends, nor her child. She was just simply covering up grief with new activity and learning. Miyuki, as well as the other courtesans, knew that she would not be able to continue in such a manner before everything would come to the surface. They just prayed that someone would be able to catch her when she allowed herself to remember and fell into mourning.

"Cho!" Kagome called out to her friend who had rushed into the bathing room, "Come to join us?"

"No," Cho giggled, "Though a bath sounds wonderful. I came to give you news. You're to join Kaida in your new rooms right after your bath. She has a few last minute lessons and instructions for you."

"Last minute lessons?" Cho watched as the color drained from Kagome's face even as realization dawned in her eyes.

"Lord Sesshomaru arrived just a few moments ago," Cho said, more subdued, as she helped Kagome out of the bath and turned to briskly dry Rin, "He has requested that you be ready for him tonight. Mistress Rin, you had better go get dressed and meet him, don't you think?"

"Kagome-lady," Rin ran to Kagome and hugged her around her middle. Kagome smoothed her hand over Rin's hair absent-mindedly, "Lord Sesshomaru is home!"

"Yes, darling," Kagome murmured, "Go see him. I have so much to do today. I'll see you tomorrow for breakfast."

"Tomorrow I have lessons day, Kagome-lady." Rin made a sour face.

"Of course," Kagome attempted a small laugh, "How could I have forgotten? The day after then."

With a small giggle, Rin wrapped her small kimono haphazardly around herself, jumped up and down on her toes as Cho made her stop for a moment so that she could straighten it, then ran off as fast as her legs could carry her when Cho let her go with a small kiss to her head. When Rin had closed the door, Kagome slid to her knees.

"Oh, little sister!" Cho ran to her and wrapped her in her arms, "Do not be frightened. Lord Sesshomaru is a very good lover. He will not hurt you!"

"I am not frightened, Cho. I just . . . I am a miko, Cho. And I am about to become the favored courtesan of a taiyokai. And I was . . ."

"There you are, human bitch!" Leiko came storming into the bathing room, followed by the others, save for Kaida who was waiting in Kagome's rooms, trying to hold her back, "He always spends his homecomings with me! I will not let you take him away! You dirty blooded, ignorant minded . . ." Before any of them knew what she was doing Leiko had knelt and stuck her hand between Kagome's legs. Kagome gasped as strong, unforgiving fingers pushed deep inside of her roughly. Leiko smirked, "You aren't even pure. Who knows how many you've spread your legs for? How many, little miko?"

"Just one," Kagome sneered back, acting stronger than she felt, "Lord Sesshomaru's brother. Are you angry, Leiko, that I could attract them both where you fail to keep the attention of even one?"

Leiko pulled back her hand to strike, but Etsu grabbed it, "I wouldn't. She is the favored, Leiko. And the streets of Nishi are not kind to a disgraced woman."

Leiko growled at them all and bared her teeth, then stormed out of the room. The others made a general fuss over Kagome as they always did and pretended not to notice her silence as they led her to her rooms. Kaida had decorated everything beautifully so that it glowed in the light of the sun and the glow could be recreated with candles. The best futons were out, the best feather beds. Kagome sat in the middle where Kaida motioned without a sound.

"He has asked that you be ready for him. There will be none of the sweet seduction we have been talking about, little sister. He will most likely offer you the position. Accept with grace, humility, and thanks. Bow when he first addresses you. Rise when he tells you, but do not look him in the eyes until the offer has been made and you are making love. He is a generous lover, little sister. Do not worry."

"No," Kagome attempted a small smile, "No, I will not worry. I am his to do with as he pleases."

Kagome felt numb as Kaida helped her rub down with sweet smelling oils, then left her sitting in the middle of the room, stark naked, just as the sun was setting. She gave Kagome and encouraging smile as she lit the candles and left the room. For a time, Kagome waited, until it was finally too much to simply sit in the silence. So, she grabbed her brush from the low vanity and began to run it through her hair. She did not even realize when the door slid open and then closed. She didn't even know she was not alone in the room until she heard his voice.

"I see you are ready for me, Miko."

Kagome paused, put her brush to the side, moved her long hair so that sections of it covered her breasts, turned to him, and bowed, her forehead almost to the floor.

"Welcome home, my lord."

Author's note: What happened to the others still won't be revealed for a while. I want to establish Kagome's position in Sesshomaru's castle and his life before that happens. So, those of you who have asked about it, it is coming, I promise, it'll just be a little while longer. I hope the story can keep you entertained until then! Thanks so much.


	7. Chapter 7

All previous disclaimers apply.

Author's Note: WARNING: Lemon. Don't like them, please don't read.

"I see you are ready for me, Miko," Sesshomaru growled quietly, not coming from the shadows he had hidden himself in just inside the room. He indulged in a hidden half-smile when she stiffened at the sound of his voice and ceased her ministrations to her long, smooth hair. He did not fail to notice the way she laid her hair over her breasts to hide them before she turned to look toward his voice. She could not have realized it was her naked rump in the air as she bowed low to him and not her hidden breasts that made him harden between his legs.

He had had much time to think in his absence from the castle. It had been Paru who had suggested that he name the miko his most favored courtesan before leaving. She was powerful, known in her own right. It would be seen as a sign of strength to the other lords that Sesshomaru was able to tame the famous woman, though she had tamed herself more than anyone else had, from what Miyuki said. He wondered why she had submitted to him so easily. While it had been most convenient, it was also a little troubling. But he never allowed himself to think on it for very long. So, he had announced his intention to name her his favored and commanded that she be taught by his other concubines what the position entitled and demanded. As he and his men had traveled through his lands the idea had grown on him more and more. She was beautiful. He wanted her physically. With fewer and fewer demons being born each year as humans grew more numerous most of the other lords had dropped the prejudice against humans completely, all of the other taiyokai had. They all had human mistresses. His would be the most powerful. So, he would be getting political standing and physical pleasure out of the woman he had tried to kill on numerous occasions. In return he would protect her and give her everything a most favored concubine would receive.

The way she remained bowed, his concubines had done their given task well. Miyuki had told him that she had learned all of the lessons that she had been given quickly and well. Leiko, as he had suspected would happen, had been no help at all. He had growled at that. The haughty bitch was getting to be a problem, prancing about like the favored when he had never named her as such. Certainly he had spent much time in her bed, she was a strong and pleasing lover, but that did not entitle her to act as she had to the miko, nor to the other concubines. She had marched into his courtyard where he was holding a debriefing meeting with Miyuki and Paru and announced with not a single by your leave that the miko was impure. That she had opened her legs to his brother, probably more than once. She had seemed shocked when he had answered with the quirk of an eyebrow that he was quite aware of the fact. She hadn't even had the humility to apologize before she had stormed away again. The woman was going to be trouble. He would have to deal with her soon.

Miyuki had told him that the others liked the miko very much and referred to her as they referred to each other, as sisters, and that it was generally accepted that Rin had attached to the miko as if she was her mother. That was good. Rin needed maternal guidance. He would not have his human ward raised as a little savage, which was exactly what she had been headed toward. But, he had noticed when she had run to him this afternoon she had looked more than presentable and raised her arms in a request to be lifted instead of attaching herself to his leg. He hadn't been able to resist that small child who pulled so on the heart he hadn't thought he had and had picked her up, nuzzling her hair and taking in her freshly bathed scent. Perhaps this miko would be better for all of them than he had even anticipated. The thought of her, brought his attention back to her form, still bowing on the floor.

"Welcome home, my lord," she murmured, never turning her eyes to his voice, but keeping them on the floor, like any good slave. He did not know why it angered him to see her doing such instead of pleasing. He growled and sneered until the feeling when away. She stiffened when she heard the growl, but relaxed again after a moment when nothing struck her.

"I have decided in which capacity you shall perform your servitude to me."

"And what is to be my task, my lord?" she questioned respectfully, though they both knew knew that she already knew the answer.

"Because you are powerful in your own right, Miko, I will now give you a choice. Which is more respect than any of my other slaves would receive. We may do this one of two ways, though either way I will get my pleasure from you. You can become my most favored concubine, receive good kimonos, jewels and perfumes when you please me, rooms and servants of your own, all the rights, respects, and privileges that come with the position. All you must do is accept the position readily. Or, you may become my pleasure toy with none of the same privileges because you will do nothing willingly. What will it be, Miko?"

"I do not wish to be raped, my lord. I would rather have active participation in your pleasure than fight you. Give me an order, my lord. I accept your offer to be your most favored concubine. But, I must make a request of my own, my lord. It is, of course, your choice whether you honor it or not. You are, after all, my lord and master."

"What is your request, my beauty?" He practically purred the words and smiled when he watched her tense once more, unsure how to react to his sweet, seductive purr.

"I am a concubine, my lord. Not a common whore. I would ask that you do not pass me among the other lords, you friends and acquaintances, as if I were."

"My most favored concubine?" Sesshomaru scoffed, "I would kill any other who dared touch you! You belong only to me! Now, the reverse is also true, understand. If you so much as look at another male, human or demon, I will kill you slowly and painfully. I know your innocence was taken by Inuyasha, lovely, and it is forgiven. It was before you were mine. Now that you are mine, however, you are only mine. Does this satisfy you, beauty?"

"I thank you, my lord. You are much too good to me."

"Yes, I am. Now, sit up my beauty." She did as she was told and pulled herself out of her bow, "Kaida tells me that while you no longer have your maidenhood, that you are innocent in the ways of giving and receiving pleasure, but that you have learned quickly. Let us put your lessons to practical use, shall we?"

"As you wish, my lord," her breath was erratic, nervous. He did not want to frighten her this first time with her, but two moons without a woman made her naked form and very real innocence even more alluring. He wanted to see more of her, now. Then, take her and make her his.

"Move your hair, let me see your breasts. Touch them for me." He bit his groan back and palmed his growing erection as she did as she was told. She pushed her long, inky hair behind her shoulders and tentatively palmed her breasts in her small hands. He cocked his head to see the scars he had given her himself. The deep wound now a healing pink scar on her shoulder. The light line where he had dragged his claw between her breasts and down to her navel. Though he was surprised at the regret that assaulted him at having hurt her, he could not regret the scars it had left. A perfect body was an uninteresting body. All of his concubines had something about their bodies that he loved that was not perfect. He licked his lips in anticipation of drawing his tongue over the scars as he began to silently undress himself, "Do not be shy, my beauty. Touch yourself as you do when you give yourself pleasure."

Kagome looked startled for a moment, her eyes going wide. Embarrassment, Sesshomaru realized. In all ways but the most technical she was still innocent, as Kaida had told him. She had probably never thought to bring herself pleasure. He knew she could not have gained pleasure from Inuyasha's attentions to her. He wondered idly if her first orgasm had been given to her by himself while she slept next to a fire. It was most intriguing. It would be interesting to see what she, in her innocence, would come up with for his visual pleasures. Kagome swallowed harshly, nodded. One hand she left, covering her left breast. The other she dipped down to her navel, ran only her fingertips lightly up again between her breasts to the hollow of her throat, then back down to once again to cover her right breast. Her breathing caught when she experimentally squeezed both breasts. She paused for a moment, then bit her lips as she squeezed her nipples between her thumbs and forefingers. Her breath released on a shaky sigh.

Sesshomaru could take it no longer. Never before had a woman made him so hard when all he had done watch her touch herself in the most innocent of ways a concubine could. He didn't understand what it was about the miko he found so irresistible, but he was beginning to see his bastard half brother's fascination with her. Not only was she physically stunning, but she seemed to have the unique ability to inspire loyalty in everyone she met. Even his most loyal of generals, Miyuki and Paru, defended her with all they were. Sesshomaru was stripped of his remaining clothing like lightning and moved to her. She looked up at him, surprise in her eyes, fascination masked by it. Fascination at his erection, level now with her eyes. Of course, she had seen Inuyasha's, had it in her mouth, inside of her. But, Sesshomaru's was so much different than his brother's. Sesshomaru was long and thick and so much more than Inuyasha had been. She wondered if it was because Sesshomaru was full demon and Inuyasha only half that there was such a difference in size as she tentatively reached out and touched a finger to the very tip.

"Put it in your mouth," Sesshomaru commanded, biting back a groan when she wrapped her hand around his erection without being told to.

Kagome did as she was told. Holding onto the base of his penis, she ran her tongue softly in a circle around the swollen head. He tossed back his head and felt his hair sweep his backside when she took as much as she could in her mouth and began to suck gently, pumping the shaft with the hand at the base. His own breathing became erratic when she began to suck in earnest, encouraged by the small moan he hadn't even realized he'd let out. It was ridiculous. He could feel himself hardening further. She was just too good. He was going to lose control if she kept up with what she was doing. So Sesshomaru did the only thing he could do to ensure that he would not disgrace himself in front of his new lady. He didn't even think to consider her when he pulled away suddenly, flipped her harshly onto her hands and knees, and knelt behind her.

Seeing her pale skin illuminated by the firelight, her core open to him with her spread legs, he lost what little control he had left. He didn't even notice when she cried out in pain as he dug his claws into the sensitive skin of her midsection, just below her ribs and plunged his considerable erection into her. Kagome bit her lip and buried her face in the crook she created by bending her arms and waited. This was exactly how Inuyasha had taken her. But, this hurt much more. Sesshomaru was twice Inuyasha's size and he didn't seem to realize in his passion that he was secreting a small amount of poison into her body through the claws he had dug into her, making it difficult to breathe through the pain. Every time she felt the urge to cry out she bit her lip further until she was drawing blood. Sesshomaru, concentrated only on his own pleasure, finished with her quickly enough. She felt his hot seed shoot deep inside her raw channel. It took all she had to keep herself from collapsing as he pulled out of her, placed a light smack to her rump and left the room.

It wasn't until he left the room that he heard the first on her sobs. Heartbreaking. Pained. He had been a fool to assume that she would not shed tears. She was, after all a miko, and he a yokai, and he had not really given her a choice about what she was to become to him. He stood outside the door and listened to the cries, unsure as to why they made him so uncomfortable. The sobs subsided sooner than he thought they would and he peeked back into the room. She was collapsed on her side, her breathing light and erratic, puncture wounds on both sides of her body. He looked down at his claws, saw the small amount of blood on them and realized what he had done to her. He walked over to her, knelt, and began to lick the claw wounds gently, healing them with his saliva, drawing the painful poison out. It would not do to poison her when he had only just acquired her. He smelled more blood and looked down, saw the blood between her legs.

It was then that he began to feel shame about what he had done. He had become angry and lost control simply because she had been good at what he had told her to do. He had taken her much as he imagined his bastard brother had taken her. No control. Absolutely no thought for her pleasure. He had not even made sure that she was sufficiently wet to ease the way for his considerable erection into her tight body. And she had made no protest even once. Even when he knew the pain had to have been excruciating to her frail human body.

When she woke, he promised himself. He had called her his concubine and his concubine she would be. He never denied the others their own pleasure. In fact, he always became more aroused when they climaxed because of what he had done, he realized if he stopped to think about it. When she woke he would give her pleasure such as she had never known and would watch the wonder in her eyes as they climbed together. He wouldn't let her look away when they fell together,he knew. He wanted to see her eyes. Wanted to see what they looked like when he, Sesshomaru, gave her such pleasure. Would there be shame when she came? Regret, begging, desperation for more, hatred? Any emotion would do so long as he saw her eyes when they climaxed together.

"Sleep well, my beauty," he murmured, surprising himself by kissing her forehead, "You will need the energy."


	8. Chapter 8

All previous disclaimers apply.

"Kaida! Kaida, wake up!"

Kaida, the most sexually experienced and knowledgeable of the Lord Sesshomaru's concubines, was jerked rudely from her sleep by the voice of one of the twins. Even now, so many years after meeting them, she could never tell one from the other just by their voices. Most of the time she couldn't tell one from the other even if she saw them. She wondered idly, before opening her eyes to look at who was bothering her so early in the day, if half the time the twins even knew which they were. Kaida growled from deep in her throat, a warning to whomever had come to wake her that if she continued to shake her she would have a scar that would give them all an easy way to tell her from her twin sister.

"Kaida, please, wake up! It's Kagome!"

At the mention of her newest little sister's name Kaida opened her eyes an sat up in one fluid movement that looked almost rehearsed. It was a useful skill she had learned in her childhood, how to come awake in an instant and be prepared for whatever faced you, be it farm work or battle. Ah, it was Akina kneeling on the floor next to her. The twin in front of her was the gentler of the two and often reflected her personality with pastel colored clothing. At the moment she was in a pale blue sleeping kimono, her golden hair was loose and flowing, she had not yet put any cosmetics on her face, and her eyes were wide and terrified.

"What is it, sister love?" Kaida questioned quickly, standing and tying her own unruly fire-red hair back. She took Akina's elbow to help her up, "What is wrong with our sister?"

Akina, always the most emotional and sensitive of all of them, gripped Kaida's kimono in her filed claws and looked her in the eye even as her own overflowed, "He made a liar out of all of us, Kaida."

"What are you talking about, Akina? Who made a liar out of all of us?"

"Lord Sesshomaru! I never would have believed it if I hadn't seen her for myself. He hurt her, Kaida! She can barely move. She's weak as a kitten, can't even lift her head to sip broth. Miyuki went to her late last night when she was sure the lord had done with her and found her in immense pain. She summoned Hoshiko and they sat with her the rest of the night. This morning I walked past the room and they called out for me to get you. You may have salves for a night of particularly rough lovemaking. They think it is perhaps the best thing for her. He . . . he didn't pleasure her enough to ease the way for himself to enter her, Kaida. Why would he do something like that? He would never be so careless with any of us."

"I don't know why he would do something like that, sister love, but we must not dwell on it now. I am going to her. Wake the others. She will need all the encouragement we can give her now. And bring Mistress Rin. Sometimes there is more that a child can do than a thousand women put together."

Kaida wasted no time after Akina left. She didn't change, she didn't do anything to her hair and face. Kagome had quickly become their little love. They all cared for her deeply and could not stand to see her hurting in any way. So, her vanity would always come second when it was placed next to the need and comfort of the little miko who had become their sister in every way. She gathered her soothing, numbing lotions quickly and was at the other end of the castle in Kagome's rooms as quickly as she could. When she got there, Kagome was sitting up, using Hiroko as a support for her back. Hoshiko was offering her broth slowly, spoonful by spoonful while Miyuki wiped a damp cloth over her forehead, her neck, and her upper chest. She was sure the others would not be far behind.

"Hello, my love," Kaida sat next to Kagome and smiled. Kagome tried to return the smile, but it did not reach to her exhausted eyes, "How are you feeling?"

"Sore," Kagome rasped as Miyuki stood and left the room quietly, leaving the other concubines to take care of the little miko as she went to fetch Rin, "And weak. But, there is no fever. I will heal. I wish you all wouldn't make such a fuss over me."

"We like to make the fuss, little sister," Hiroko assured her.

"I have some creams here that will aid in your comfort, little sister, but I need your permission to apply them."

"Please," the word was spoken so softly Kaida almost didn't hear it, but it spoke to her the way nothing else could just how much pain Kagome was in. She knelt between Kagome's legs and did her work quickly and efficiently so that her little sister would feel nothing but relief as the soothing balms began to take effect.

"Oh, thank you," Kagome murmured, "Thank you so much."

"It was nothing, sister love," Kaida smiled gently and touched a finger to the lines created by pain and stress on Kagome's forehead, pleased when they smoothed under her touch and she began to relax against Hiroko.

"Oh, darling!" They didn't doubt that the whole palace knew when Cho entered the room with Akina and they both knelt next to Kagome, "Darling, I'm so sorry. I never thought the lord would . . . He's always been so gentle with me . . . with all of us . . . I never thought . . ."

"Cho," Kagome whispered, touching Cho's cheek, "It was no one's fault. The lord will treat me as he sees fit. I am a miko. I cannot expect the same amount of consideration as he gives to you all."

"You are his favored," Etsu said quietly from the doorway, "As such you have a right to demand your pleasure from him just as much as he demands his pleasure from you. You must learn this little sister. You are not a common whore, you are a concubine to a great taiyokai. There is honor and respect in such a position. And although, I have great respect for Lord Sesshomaru I cannot accept his actions toward you last night. They were positively barbaric."

"We know, sister, that you would have done nothing to earn his wrath," Aiko stepped into the room beside Etsu and they both knelt gracefully on the floor almost as if they had choreographed it, "Jealousy can be a very powerful motivator and and a very powerful releaser of inhibitions."

"Jealousy?" Kagome questioned quietly, beginning to get drowsy after drinking the fruit juice spiked with painkillers and sleeping aid that Hoshiko had given her. They all smiled at her and looked to Aiko to explain in her own quiet way exactly what she meant.

"Sesshomaru had always been jealous of Inuyasha. His freedom, his devil-may-care attitude, the love their father had for such a creature, for his mother, the love and devotion he saw that you had for him. Inuyasha had everything he had ever wanted, but had never been able to have due to his restrictions as the taiyokai, a title their father had left to him with his death. It is not hate that keeps Lord Sesshomaru so angry with Inuyasha. It is jealousy. It is this crippling jealousy that led to Lord Sesshomaru's rejection of the humans that his father so loved. But, seeing Mistress Rin's eyes, so like yours, he was unable to do anything but take her in. It is also the reason why he lost control with you last night. He could not stand that his bastard half brother had the one he wanted before he was able to take her. Before he was even able to admit to himself that he wanted to take her. His bastard half brother's miko bitch."

"You . . . must be insane," Kagome murmured around a yawn, not seeing in any of their eyes the dawning of understanding. They had finally realized that what Aiko had known all along. All of the actions their lord had taken in recent years, they all finally seemed to make sense where they hadn't before. Because of this, they were able to understand, if not quite forgive what he had done to their little love the night before.

"No, darling, she's not insane," Hoshiko helped Hiroko lay Kagome down, "She's absolutely right. And I'm sure now that you realize that you'll be able to understand him just a little bit more. Unfortunately, you won't remember this when you wake, so you'll have to discover it slowly on your own, with Lord Sesshomaru."

"You won't remind me?"

"Of course not, darling," Cho giggled behind her hand, her good spirits restored by the realization they had all just come to, "We're your friends. We'll help you as much as we can, but we won't do everything for you. You have to figure some things out for yourself. And so does the lord."

"You'll figure it out first, Kagome," Miyuki said as she walked in the room, "Lord Sesshomaru will be more stubborn. But, we all believe in you. My self, the other ladies, my husband, and . . . your child."

"Kagome-lady," Rin ran right to Kagome and laid down next to her, "Are you hurt very bad?"

"Oh, no, darling," Kagome stroked Rin's black hair gently, barely able to keep her eyes open, "I'm just very tired. Will you take a nap with me?"

"Of course, Kagome-lady," Rin snuggled down next to her and began methodically stroking her arm, "I won't leave you until you feel better."

The ladies all stood quietly, leaving their lady and the young mistress of the castle alone to sleep. When Hoshiko turned around after closing the door, ready to ask the others why they hadn't moved, she froze with the rest of them to see Lord Sesshomaru standing in front of them, all blazing glory and superiority in his finest clothes. He glared at them all disapprovingly and they lowered their eyes respectfully and bowed low.

"The Lady is unable to see you today," Kaida murmured, "She needs rest and the time to heal from your 'attentions' last evening."

"I will see The Lady if I see fit. You will remove yourselves from the doorway now," Sesshomaru glared at them and used a tone of voice that had made strong men tremble. His ladies and Miyuki did not even flinch. Nor did they move even a single inch.

"You dare disobey our lord?" Leiko stormed up to them and drew her arm back to strike the closest to her, the smallest of them, Etsu. She let her hand fly, and gasped when Lord Sesshomaru reached her before she could strike, grabbing her roughly by the wrist.

"That will be quite enough out of you, Leiko," Sesshomaru pushed her roughly to the ground, "You have forgotten your place. You come upon me in meeting with my generals, you try to strike at the others, you actually thought you could strike the favored and stay. I have had enough of you, Leiko. Leave my palace now. Go back to your village in shame. Pray that they will care for you. You no longer have a place here."

"My lord," Leiko fell to her knees in front of him, grabbing onto the heavily dyed silk of his abundant clothing, "Please . . ."

"You have received numerous chances, Leiko. Leave my sight. You are disgraced. Do not dishonor yourself further."

"Of course, my lord," Leiko growled from deep in her throat, her eyes burning with hate as she glared at them all in turn. They all smilply looked back. Years ago, they might have felt sorry for her. They might have even begged Lord Sesshomaru to keep her on as a servant in the palace. But, since she had struck Kagome, none of them could even think of a good word to say about her. There was no remorse felt as she looked pleadingly at Lord Sesshomaru one more time and, when he didn't even look at her, turn on her heel, "As you wish."

No one said a word as she drew herself up straight and tall and stalked down the hall. When she was finally out of their sight Sesshomaru turned his attention back to the ladies blocking his way into Kagome's rooms. They carefully masked their pleased smiles and cast their eyes downward once more.

"You honestly refuse to let me pass? You refuse me access to the favored?"

"For the time being," Kaida murmured and they all gave a small sound of agreement.

Then, Sesshomaru did something that they did not expect. He smiled. And he chuckled, "You have become quite protective of the little miko, my ladies. Very well. I will not approach her until she has your seal of approval on her health."

"Thank you, my lord," Miyuki straightened as Sesshomaru began to swoop down the hall just as grandly as the lord he was.

"What just happened here?" Akina asked quietly.

"I'm not sure," Miyuki turned to all of them and smiled, "But, I do believe, ladies, that it is a step in the right direction."


	9. Chapter 9

All previous disclaimers apply.

Author's Note: WARNING: Lemon. Don't like, please don't read.

"Kagome, are you sure that you are quite ready for this?" Etsu knelt across from Kagome as a servant carefully put her hair up in a fancy twist, twisting her own loose hair nervously in her hands.

"Etsu, I appreciate very much that you and the others are so worried about me," Kagome smiled at her, "But, it has been nearly two weeks. I'm quite healed and it's time that I perform my duties to Lord Sesshomaru."

"If you are quite certain, little sister."

"I am."

"Very well, little sister. As you wish it."

"Thank you, Etsu."

Kagome frowned when both Etsu and the servant left the room. What was she doing? What had she become? She touched her carefully painted lips and looked at the rouging color that came off on her finger tips. She had once been independent. She'd stood up to the Great Sesshomaru on more than one occasion. And now, what had she become? She, the great Miko, had become a taiyokai's concubine. Not thinking of herself anymore, but only of his pleasure. A far part of her mind recognized that maybe she should be upset by such a thing. But, somehow she couldn't seem to work up the anger that could snap her out of her obedience. Her most recent training prevented it. Besides, her mind fell back on the same thing the others had been telling her since the day she had met them: This was a good life, a stable life. It was the most she could expect, after giving herself to Sesshomaru. She blinked at her reflection twice, slowly, and felt a rage sweep up in her. A rage at her own helplessness, a rage at the fact that she knew she would do nothing to change her position. What she had told Miyuki what felt like forever ago was true. She was broken. She picked up her heavy comb and threw it at the mirror, feeling a little satisfied when it shattered. She looked at herself once more in one of the shards and then stood. It was time to prepare herself for her lord.

"Lord Sesshomaru," Sesshomaru looked up when Etsu's light, breathy voice interrupted his thoughts as he sat at his low table, looking over the communications sent to him from the borders of his realm and the newest treaties that had been sent to him by the other great taiyokai of the land. He had been frowning over the particularly annoying realization that he would soon have to host the Great Gathering. Each lord hosted it in succession and it was his year. He always felt the Gathering was more trouble than it was worth. There was so much pomp and pretense involved and the endless dinners tried his nerves to no end. He kept the displeased look on his face as he looked over at Etsu, trying to convey to her that he was displeased that she'd interrupted him, but was truly relieved to have the break.

"Yes, Etsu?"

"Lady Kagome has asked me to convey to you that she is ready once again to receive your attentions."

Sesshomaru had to fight to keep his expression neutral, "Thank you, Etsu."

The beautiful concubine bowed and closed the door behind herself, carefully concealing a giggle. She had seen the barely perceptible reaction. Oh, yes, things were going exactly to plan and she couldn't be happier. She rushed down the halls, anxious to get to the gardens and tell the others. She knew they would want to hear everything.

He found Kagome bathing shortly after the noon meal. He'd wanted her as soon as Etsu had made her announcement to him, but Gathering matters that had regretfully kept him tied up until just moments before. If only his servants and generals had guessed as he'd sat behind the big wooden table, how he would harden when he thought of her. And now here she was. The perfect woman, he surprised himself with the thought. Every thought he had ever had went to the contrary. She was the farthest thing from the perfect by all of his past standards. But none of that mattered now as he gazed at her. She was standing in the middle of the pool, her back to him, her inky black hair twisted beautifully. Who knew what she was looking at. All he knew was that seeing her made him rock hard in an instant and he wanted her. Now. He'd waited for her long enough. And, he admitted to himself silently, he had to make up their last encounter to her. Not, that he would ever admit that to her.

He stripped quickly, silently. Before she even knew he was in the room he had strode into the shallow pool, wrapped his arms around her from behind and claimed her neck with his mouth. She stiffened for only a moment, then relaxed, though he could tell that she was not aroused by his attentions, simply allowing what she had said she would allow. When he loosened his grip on her she mistook his intentions and moved silently to the edge of the pool. She turned, smiled at him impishly, thinking it what he wanted, and leaned over, bracing herself on the edge of the pool, opening her legs and waiting for him to enter her. It took all of his control not to do so. He had to prove to himself as well as to her that he could bring her pleasure. So instead of entering her, he picked her up.

She looked up at him, surprised when he got out of the pool, then laid her next to it, on the clothing he had simply dropped in his haste to be in the pool with her. She didn't say a word, but waited for him to make a move, unsure of what he wanted from her. Kissing her was far too personal yet for her to enjoy it, he knew, so he didn't try it. Instead, he delighted in her surprised gasp when he took her one of her nipples in his mouth and began to suckle. He felt her breath hitch, half from surprise, half from delight, as his hand came up to cup her other breast, massage it. It pleased him greatly when he felt her arousal spike and her back arch as he tweaked one nipple between his fingers and nipped the other lightly. He knew she hardly noticed when his hand went around her shoulders to draw her into a semi-sitting position. She did notice, however, when his hand left her breast and trailed downward, over her stomach, to the thatch of hair that protected her most secret of places.

She arched again when he ran his fingers lightly over her entrance. He silenced the protest on her lips with a brutal kiss that had nothing to do with affection, dove his tongue into her mouth, and pressed two fingers against the bud of her desire. He swallowed her gasp, reveled in it, as he found her wet and slipped the two fingers inside of her. She nearly flew apart in his arms, he knew it and enjoyed. No one had ever touched her in this fashion. He pulled away from the kiss and was pleased to find her eyes clouded and confused with lust. He removed his fingers from her, brought them up to his lips and licked her essence from them for her to see. He knew only one thing from the first taste. He needed more. He laid her down gently, she was still confused, and moved in between her legs. She tightened them on instinct when he used both hands to separate her folds and openly reveal her sex to him, but he would not let them close.

He growled his satisfaction when, at his first tentative lick, she let out a cry as wanton as any of his experienced concubines and arched straight off the floor. She made small mewling noises from the back of her throat as he licked her again and again, cried out once more when he dove his tongue inside of her. She didn't make a noise when he worried the tiny pearl of her desire with his tongue, but he looked up to see her mouth hanging open, her eyes blinded with pleasure, and her hands clenching the fabric she lay on.

"How do you feel?" he asked her.

"Don't know," she gasped, "It's . . . all so new. My lord, I . . . " She bit her lip. He head was spinning. She couldn't seem to concentrate on anything but how he was setting her body on fire.

"What do you want, my beauty?"

"More," she whispered almost inaudibly.

"I'm afraid I couldn't hear you?" he was almost teasing her.

"More," she repeated slightly louder, then whimpered, "Please, my lord."

"Very well," He wanted it now. Wanted to see her fly apart, feel it. His skillful fingers slipped inside her once more and began rubbing the place he knew to be her most sensitive gently. She cried out without words. He added his mouth to her pearl and sucked with earnest. In less than a minute he had her screaming and bucking against him. He pressed the flat of his tongue strongly against her bud and rammed his fingers into her once more and was rewarded when her juices flowed freely. He lapped it up, at the same time taking her down slowly from the pleasure. His need to be gentle with her astounded even himself as he sat up and pulled her trembling form against his chest, rocking her.

"I never knew," she whispered, "I never knew it could be like that." Kagome felt lost, confused, and completely wonderful at the same time. How could someone who had caused her such pain not so long before give her such pleasure now? She didn't know how he had managed to reduce her to begging, but she had the thought that he could probably do it again, easily, if he wanted to. She set her hand to his chest and almost smiled at the irony of how sweetly he was holding her and rocking her when she knew that he felt nothing for her in reality. It was all so different. She liked to think that Inuyasha had cared for her, but he had not shown her any of the gentle tenderness that Sesshomaru was showing her now when they had made love. He had just rolled over after he was completed, leaving her sore and confused, sure that that wasn't what it was supposed to feel like. At least, not by what Eri had told her. She shut down the thoughts. She had to remember that she loved Inuyahsa, and that Sesshomaru was nothing more than her obligation. She couldn't let it be otherwise. She wouldn't. And she wouldn't think about Inuyahsa at all. Thinking about him just made her ache for him. And Miroku and Sango. But most of all for Shippou. Even in Sesshomaru's arms she could feel the emptiness in her own where her kit would sleep at night. It was a matter of self-preservation and keeping her sanity that had her completely shutting down all thoughts of the past.

Sesshomaru felt her mind beginning to drift in the way her body began to tense from it's post pleasure relaxation and sought the right words to bring her back to the here and now, "There is more, beauty."

"More?" she questioned innocently, looking up at him with eyes that spoke volumes.

"Would you like me to teach you?"

"Please, my lord," she surprised herself by nuzzling his neck, "Please teach me." She knew she sounded like she was begging again, but her eyes told a different story. She was a concubine, and had been taught how to tell a man exactly what he wanted to hear. At least that's what she told herself. She wasn't quite ready to admit to herself that more than anything, she wanted him to show her the kind of pleasure he had just given her again.

"Very well, beautiful. Tonight."

"Tonight?" Her clouded eyes reflected the pleasure clouding of her mind.

"Tonight you are introduced to the city, to my court, as my favored. After the ceremony I will show you everything."

"As you wish it, my lord. Thank you for pleasuring me. May I do the same for you?"

Sesshomaru gasped when suddenly her clever little hand was encircling his shaft. He couldn't seem to recover the breath for words, so he just nodded, releasing her when she moved to get out of his embrace. She knelt on all fours in front of him, lowered her upper body so that she was supporting her slight weight on her elbows and took him in her mouth. She had been so nervous the first night he had taken her that she hadn't been able to employ any of the techniques that had been taught to her over the months. She was not so nervous now.

She relaxed the back of her throat and took as much of his considerable length into her mouth as possible, hoping it and her hand rhythmically pumping the rest of him would be satisfactory. She had to admit, there was a certain female pride that shot through her when he arched into her with a small moan and buried his hand in her hair. To know that she could do that to him. She hummed her satisfaction quite by accident, but did it again when he hissed and thrust into her mouth with a jerk of his hips. She smiled around him and reached up, inviting him to lay and relax, to enjoy. It was impossible to resist pinching his nipples when he complied, but he seemed to like it and fisted his hands in her hair as she continued.

Soon, as was inevitable with how long he had been waiting to release, he was arching into her mouth with every bob of her head. It was not surprising when he came in her mouth. She had been expecting it. But, what was surprising to her was how interesting the flavor was when she had been expecting something horrible. She smiled when she sat up, looked right into his eyes, and swallowed all she held in her mouth.

"Thank you, my lord."

He reached up and set just the tips of his fingers to the hollow of her throat, "Until this evening, my beauty."

"I await it eagerly."


	10. Chapter 10

All Previous Disclaimers Apply

"I feel ridiculous in all of this getup," Kagome sighed in disgust as she looked in the mirror. She was done up in a way she had only ever seen in festivals in her own time. She looked like a geisha. Her visible skin was painted so that she was as pale as a new moon, except for a small portion on the back of her neck that was left her natural color. It was all very decorative and she normally would have been amused and pleased at how it changed her appearance, with the dramatic eyebrows and bright red lips. It made her seem very grown up and made her feel almost beautiful. Yet, she could not seem to work past the fact that she was so extremely nervous about what she knew was going to happen this evening. Not the introduction to Nishi and the dinner with Lord Sesshomaru's court. She had had so much training from the others to that effect that she wasn't the slightest bit concerned about that. She felt the butterflies dancing and making her feel light headed whenever she thought of what Sesshomaru had promised her would happen after the introduction to the city. This afternoon in the bathing room had been incredible. More that she'd ever thought it could be. He had shown her things that she'd only ever imagined she herself would feel. And she would be lying to herself if she didn't admit that she wanted to learn more. That she wanted to know what the rest was. She recognized in the back of her mind that just a short time ago she would have considered herself wanton and brazen to be thinking that she wanted Sesshomaru to teach her things. Sexual things. Now, though, after training with Kaida, she recognized her craving as something every woman felt and was entitled to.

It was a strange paradox. But, Sesshomaru giving her so much this afternoon had awakened something in her. Something she hadn't felt in such a very long time. The will to live. There was a fire in her heart that she hadn't felt in months. For the first time since Inuyasha had disappeared she wasn't seeing her life through a cloud. The ache she felt at not being able to hold Shippou, to tell him she loved him, was still there, but it wasn't so all encompassing. She could move past it. Just after Sesshomaru had taught her what it could feel like she'd felt guilt about thinking how much better a lover Sesshomaru was than Inuyasha. But, somewhere between then and now, sometime during the endless preparations for this evening, the deep fog of depression she had been living in lifted. This morning when despair at her own helplessness and her unwillingness to change her position had overwhelmed her into breaking the mirror seemed like an eternity ago. A different lifetime where she had given up. She was herself again and it felt good. There were changes in her, certainly, but she preferred to think of them as growing up, rather than giving in. She no longer yearned for the life she had once had. Not even for the future. She still missed those she had once known, but she had to admit to herself that she was more content in this life than she'd been in any other.

Perhaps she was just finally seeing things as they really were. Inuyasha, the others, her son, were gone. She didn't know what had happened to them, but she would find out. Sesshomaru would allow her to dispatch search parties to all corners of the earth if need be to find out what had happened, she knew, as soon as he realized she was not going to run. And she wasn't planning on it. It was a relief to be in a bed every night. It was a relief not to have to constantly worry about the safety of the others around her. Nishi was the best protected city in the West. Of course, Naraku was still out there and he was still a threat to all life as she had come to know it. But, the next time she fought him, it would be with an army behind her. Sesshomaru would allow her that, as well, she knew. This was her given lot in life. And it was a good life, like the others had told her. She was surprised to realize that she was more than content in it. She was happy in it.

She would perform her duties faithfully and well so that she endeared herself to Sesshomaru and he would want to reward her. And soon, not so very far away at all, he would marry and would no longer have any use for her except as an occasional night when he would seek out her particular skills in bed. When that occurred she would request that she be allowed to complete her mission and kill Naraku. He would allow it. He would want Naraku gone as much as she did. She didn't know how she knew, but she knew all of these things to be true. Then, she would return to the city and resume her life as the once favored, the adoptive mother of the Lord's ward. A position of power that would demand respect and a comfortable life until she died. She was Rin's mother, she admitted to herself. The girl thought of her as such. She thought of herself as such, and after tonight the court would think of her as such.

At the same time, she realized, her newly refound confidence and life would assure that some changes would have to be made. She would not allow Sesshomaru to keep her locked behind the gates any longer. She would be going into the city and acquainting herself with the people. And, just as she had been told, she was allowed to demand her pleasure from Sesshomaru in bed just as he demanded it from her. The thought made her blush, but not from embarrassment. From the realization that she would do so from now on. And there was no way he would be treating Rin with such a cold unfamiliarity any more. At least not behind the closed door of the palace. Not when the sweet baby loved him as much as she did. She would tell him all of this tonight. After the dinner and ceremony. She would never demand these things in public. In public she would be demure and obedient, just as she had been taught. She would give Sesshomaru no reason to be angry with her, ever. He was, after all, her lord and master, and she did want to please him as much as, if not more than, she knew she would end up annoying him at times. She knew he would be pleased with the fire in her as much as it would exasperate him and she was happy in the fact.

"You have awakened, little sister," Etsu commented with a smile, as she tucked the final decoration into Kagome's carefully done hair.

"I'm afraid I don't know what you mean," Kagome did not bother to hide her smile.

"Don't you?" Kaida laughed and threw a flower blossom that had fallen from the cuttings in the room toward her, "There is a light about you that has been missing since we have known you. What happened this afternoon in the bathing room, do tell?"

"A lady never reveals," Kagome sniffed primly, then grinned, "He was what you promised he could be. But more than that, I feel . . . I feel alive for the first time in so very long."

"We are glad," Hoshiko came and set a hand to her cheek, "We have wondered for a very long time what it would be like to really meet you. You're just as sweet as the young woman we had come to love. Of course, you will be a little bit more difficult now, especially with your rumored temper. But, perhaps you will be all the more dear to us because of it." Kagome smiled at her, and resisted the urge to rub into her hand, knowing it would muss her face. Hoshiko had become such a mother figure to her even as she had become a mother figure to Rin. Her approval and love were more important to Kagome than she could ever say.

They all looked up in surprise when the door was ripped open and Rin ran in, her clothes askew and her hair a mess. There were tears on her face as she paused just inside the door, looked around, then ran again when she spotted Kagome. A servant, looking almost as frazzled and close to tears followed her in, a comb and hair decorations in her hands. Kagome, feeling sympathy for both of them, but more for her child, knelt and opened her arms as Rin ran toward her.

"Kagome-lady! Kagome-lady! Please, tell her not to make me!" Hoshiko made a small noise of discontent from the back of her throat as Rin threw herself into Kagome's open arms, making the rich fabric bend. Kagome, conscious of her beautiful kimono, only hugged Rin for a brief moment, then held her out at arm's length.

"Tell her not to make you what, darling?" Cho held out a small piece of cloth that could be used as a handkerchief and Kagome took it with a grateful smile. She made soothing noises from the back of her throat as she wiped the hysterical tears away from Rin's cheeks and clucked her tongue as she tucked a strand of the unruly, inky hair behind Rin's ear.

"She wants to make me get into those horrible clothes so that I have to sit through the dinner. I don't want to Kagome-lady. Lord Sesshomaru never makes me!"

"But, Mistress Rin," Akina said quietly, trying to distract the child as Kagome moved to the young girl's servant and told her that to bring the kimono that had been made for Rin especially for the occasion, "Don't you like your pretty new clothes?"

"I thought that every little girl enjoyed dressing up," Aiko commented, silently beginning to work on combing Rin's hair. She decided on simply tying it back when Rin simply crossed her arms and pouted at the comment she made. Kagome would convince her to get into the beautiful kimono made for her, they all knew, but there would be no one able to convince her to sit still long enough to style her hair past tying it back. She was young enough, however, that it would make no difference in the eyes of the court.

"Rin," Kagome knelt next to the young girl, "You know that this evening is very important. Lord Sesshomaru will be introducing us to his court officially. I know you have never had to sit through a state dinner. I'll tell you a secret," she leaned over as if to whisper a great secret, but the other women smiled as she didn't whisper at all, "I never have either."

"There is a game the others and I play at state dinners," Hiroko knelt next to them and began rubbing a wet cloth over Rin's arms, cleaning them and refreshing the young girl at the same time, "You will both have to sit at the high table, but you can play it with each other. You pick out a member of the court and you decide what animal they would be were they animals. Or sometimes we use flowers or colors. It does help to pass the time."

Rin's eyes went wide with mirth and she turned to Kagome, "Can we play, Mama?"

None of them were shocked at all at the term that rolled off of Rin's lips so smoothly and Kagome just smiled and nodded, "Yes, darling. But, only if you get into your kimono now."

Rin looked at the kimono, then back at Kagome, sighed, and nodded. They all made her giggle and forget her nerves as they dressed her and kept her entertained until it was time to leave for the dinner. As they were walking toward the great hall Kagome realized that Rin's tantrum had not come from being a spoiled little girl who did not want to sit through a boring dinner in uncomfortable clothes while she was used to running free in next to no clothing. She should have realized it from the very beginning. Rin was not that kind of child. She had thrown a tantrum because she was so extremely nervous. Miyuki had explained to her that ever since her near death, the young ward had been nervous around crowds and people she hadn't met. Tonight she would be confronted with both. Rin was her child, there could be no doubt about it, but things like this just served to remind her how much she still had to learn about the little girl she had claimed as her own. Rin reached out and gripped Kagome's hand in her own as they approached Miyuki, Paru and Sesshomaru himself, waiting for them. The others continued on their way and went out of doors after taking brief moments to bow to Sesshomaru while she and Rin slowed dramatically. Rin's grip on her hand tightened. Kagome just smiled reassuringly and rubbed the small hand in her own with her thumb.

"Good evening, My Lady," Miyuki greeted them just before they reached the courtyard doors. The spring was just ending and the evening was cool and pleasant and so court would be held out of doors, as it would all of the summer and fall, the others had told her. The Great Gathering would be held mostly out of doors as well. Kagome tried not to be distracted by seeing Sesshomaru standing right next to the door, waiting, speaking quietly with Paru, but she couldn't help the heat that came into her cheeks when his eyes met hers and his eyebrow quirked, displaying to her the fact that he, too, was looking forward to what would happen after all of the formalities were over. But, he didn't know how much she had awakened to herself in these past hours. He would be surprised, she knew and pleased, she hoped.

"My Lady?" Miyuki discreetly hid her smile as she regained Kagome's attention.

"Yes, Miyuki?" she turned back to the general and was glad once again for the thick make-up on her face. It hid the fact that she was blushing fiercely to see the knowing look in Miyuki's eyes. A look only another woman would recognize. A look of a woman who knew what it was like to anticipate what would happen in the dark with a man, to crave it. She nodded at Kagome imperceptibly, letting her know that she approved. Kagome was confused as to why she was so relieved she had Miyuki's approval, but hid it behind a gentle smile as she let go of Rin's hand and the girl instead clung to her kimono.

"Do you understand what is to happen this evening or would you like to go over it one more time?" Miyuki knew that she should take Mistress Rin to Paru now. He would be presenting her to Sesshomaru and the court, but the young girl just looked so unhappy and so nervous hiding behind Kagome's skirt that she didn't have the heart to do so. Paru, it seemed was thinking along the same lines and strode toward them purposefully, not missing the opportunity to run his hand over his mate's rump lovingly. He so very rarely saw her in formal clothing, she was usually in her short armor. Even though he felt like there was too much clothing on her body and much preferred the short skirt of her armor he had to admit that there was something erotic and pleasing about the yards of fabric that covered her completely and hid nothing. And he loved being able to peel layer after layer from her slowly to reveal the body he knew so well when they were in the privacy of their own room.

With a look from Kagome, just a simple raising of one perfectly arched eyebrow, he halted in his progress toward the young mistress and Miyuki had to stifle a giggle when he realized what had just occurred and that realization showed on his face. Kagome had just given him a silent order and he had obeyed it without question. She had come back to them, Miyuki realized. She had come back to them completely and had accepted her position in the castle and in Sesshomaru's life. Truly accepted it. In every way, she was becoming the true mistress of the castle. She would be a good, strong Lady when Sesshomaru finally decided to mate her, Miyuki decided. She knew that tonight she would win over Sesshomaru's court with the power that any demon could sense, simmering just below the surface, and her easy grace and beauty. There would be a few who would object to her purely on the grounds that she was human. But, they, the older of the court, were far outnumbered by those who were unwaveringly loyal to Sesshomaru no matter what he decided. They would not be a problem. The only problem that Miyuki could see in the near future was getting Sesshomaru to realize that it was no shame to take a human mate, especially when she was as beautiful and strong as Kagome. And if he loved her.

Love. It was the one thing that Sesshomaru had always insisted he would never feel, not in that way, not for an individual person. He loved his land, he loved his kingdom, he loved his people. He did not now, nor would he ever, love a woman in that way. The way that kept her in his mind and in his heart at all times. In the way that no matter what he did it was always with her already taken into consideration. He already loved the little mistress in that way and it terrified him, though he would never admit to either feeling. But, it was obvious in every way he treated her, the gentle way he held her, the way he would sacrifice almost anything to keep her safe. And he would begin to be more demonstrative about his affection, she knew, if the look in Kagome's eyes in regard to Rin meant anything. She had accepted her place as Rin's mother and would do anything now to make sure her little girl was happy.

"Mistress Rin," Paru crouched so that his eyes were level with those of the little girl, "We've gone through this. I'll carry you to the high table and present you to Lord Sesshomaru. He'll tell everyone that you are his ward and then hold you as he accepts Lady Kagome as his favored. Then, you'll both sit next to him for the meal. You'll only be away from your mother for a few moments. I know you're a big, brave girl. Do you think you can do it?"

Sesshomaru didn't outwardly show any surprise to hear Paru call Kagome Rin's mother, but Miyuki knew that he had to be at least a little shocked. He, after all, had not seen them around each other as much as the others had and had not seen how attached the two had become to each other. Though, with his famous logic, he would come to the same conclusion the rest of them had come to and realize that it was for the best that Rin had a mother in the castle with her. Titles, especially in a world where they seemed to be all that mattered at times, were extremely important. Having a person she could call Mother might make all the difference in if she would be raised a little heathen or a beautiful young woman and a credit to Sesshomaru.

"Yes," Rin answered quietly, her big eyes glossy with tears that she didn't allow to spill.

"Good girl," Kagome smiled at her, "Go to Paru now. It will only be a few moments. And then we will play the game Hiroko told us about, hmm?"

"Yes, Mama."

Kagome moved to Sesshomaru's side as Paru picked Rin up and stood next to his wife so that they could try to distract their young mistress from her fear.

"She is very frightened, My Lord."

"Yes," Sesshomaru agreed.

"I understand that I am required to attend the entire dinner, but perhaps one of the others could take her to bed after the initial ceremony and a little of the dinner?"

"That is agreeable," Sesshomaru gave his permission and ordered Miyuki to get the message to Aiko, who herself did not enjoy state dinners. Miyuki told him that it would be done as soon as the ceremony was complete. Without another word, Sesshomaru opened the door and swept into the courtyard and up to the high table, aptly named for the fact that it was a little bit higher than the other tables and at the very head of the courtyard where the only thing at Sesshomaru's back was one of the castle walls. There were loyal guards who stood along the walls. They would be well fed when their shift was done without all of the formalities of the official dinner so they were not missing much by missing the feast.

"Ready?" Paru put a finger under Rin's chin and lifted her eyes to look into his. He had had her giggling a couple of moments before, but as soon as Sesshomaru had opened the door all of the giggles had stopped. She blinked a couple of times, then nodded slowly. He kissed her cheek gently and then stepped out of the door. Kagome moved to where they had been and watched silently, wringing her hands, as Paru moved toward the high table, Rin settled comfortably on his hip. In any other ceremony, with any other child, she would have walked at Paru's side, perhaps held his hand. But, they knew that if they had left it up to her to get to the high table she would never have made it. As it was, Kagome could see Rin physically stiffening with fear as Paru carried her past through the crowd toward the high table. But, she didn't bury her face in Paru's neck, nor did she look down. She kept her head held high and kept her eyes on Sesshomaru.

"She's fine," Miyuki murmured in her ear, "She's doing well. She won't have to be up there for much longer and she'll feel much better once you're up there with her."

"Yes," Kagome answered, then turned to smile at her, "Yes, you're right."

"Out of curiosity, as a friend, Kagome, what's happened to you?"

"I'm not sure," Kagome admitted quietly, turning to face her completely, "But, somehow . . . Between this afternoon in the baths and this evening . . . Something happened. Something changed. I still understand what has happened in my life, but I feel like me again. It's so strange. If someone had told me that I would be loyal to Sesshomaru, that I would enjoy being his favored concubine, I would have purified his ass just on principal. But, I have seen him. I have seen the gentleness he can possess and I see him now, holding my little girl and rubbing her back to comfort her, though no one else would notice. I don't know why he and Inuyasha hate each other so and it doesn't seem to matter to me anymore because I know that if I give him my loyalty, in return he will be a good Lord to me. Some day he will allow me to search for my son and complete my mission to destroy Naraku."

"How do you know these things?" Miyuki was only able to whisper.

"I don't know," Kagome's eyes were otherworldly as she looked past Miyuki, "I just know."

Miyuki put a hand to Kagome's arm and was surprised to feel the wave of purifying energy that went through her. Not painful because she could sense that Kagome felt her no ill will, but strong none the less. She had truly awakened again. Miyuki could not hold back the smile. She could not have chosen a better mate for her Lord if she had created her herself. Kagome was perfect. Strong-willed and powerful, beautiful and loving. She would be the best Lady of the Western lands in many generations. She could not see it yet, but she was already half in love with Sesshomaru. And Sesshomaru was already half in love with her. He would just be more stubborn than Kagome when it came to admitting it. But, admit it he would and then he would do everything Kagome had said he would. She was very pleased. But first, of course, they had to get through the evening.

"Come, Kagome," she nodded and stood at the door, "It's time."

Kagome felt as if she was in a dream as she walked, two steps behind Miyuki, down the aisle created by the low tables. The demons of the court bowed low as she passed even though she was not yet named the favored. She held her own head high and smiled in the slightest as she passed the other concubines, who were all smiling widely. When they reached Sesshomaru Miyuki bowed at the waist while she knelt and set her forehead almost to the ground.

"Lord Sesshomaru, with all humility and reverence, I, Miyuki, general of Nishi, endorse this woman to be named your favored concubine with all the rights, privileges, and responsibilities that position entails."

"Who is this woman you have brought before me?" Sesshomaru had to fight to keep the corners of his mouth from lifting as he asked the required question.

"She is Kagome, my Lord, also known as the Great Miko."

"And she understands what this position entails?"

"She does."

"Let the Lady speak for herself, Miyuki," Sesshomaru fought his smile even harder as whispers broke out around the courtyard at his break in tradition and ceremony.

Deciding to meet him on his own ground, Kagome also broke with tradition and ceremony and stood, holding herself as high as she could. She looked him straight in the eye. She was the Great Miko, after all. She smiled when he allowed himself a smirk at her boldness, letting her know that he was not angry with what could be taken as her disrespect. He was actually amused at her. Neither of them seemed to notice how shocked the rest of the court was at their display.

"I understand, my Lord."

"Very well," Sesshomaru looked away from her and let his eyes scan the court, "Let it be known by all who witness it now and let it be known in all the land that, I, Sesshomaru, take this woman, Kagome, the Great Miko, mother of Rin, as the most honored and favored concubine of this court. With this position comes respect second only to this Lord's self and all citizens under that rule with abide by it." Whispers broke out again when Sesshomaru proclaimed Kagome Rin's mother. Rin, whom he had just taken on officially as his ward, his own child. Rin who, at the moment, still rested in his arms where she had been placed after Sesshomaru claimed her as his own. Sesshomaru sliced through the air to call for silence and the whispers ceased immediately.

"Come, My Lady Miko, and take your place at the table with your daughter. Welcome to the court of the West."


	11. Chapter 11

All previous disclaimers apply.

Author's Note: Warning: Lemon/Lime, Don't like, please don't read.

Kagome smiled softly, content with herself and with the evening, as she ran her comb through her newly washed hair. The dinner had not lasted as long as she had anticipated it would and she had been excused to bathe by Sesshomaru just after the last course. He had some business to take care of, some more planning to do for the Great Gathering, but he would come to her rooms when he had completed it, and he expected her to be ready for him. As beautiful as she felt in the formal make-up and kimono, Kagome knew that neither the make-up nor the elaborate hairstyle would be very comfortable when she was on her back, Sesshomaru on top of her, making love to her. She set down the brush and set a hand to her stomach when she felt the arousal start low in her belly. It was an extremely new sensation, but one that was not unwelcome in any way. She had only felt it once or twice before in her life. The first time was when she had first known Hojo, before she had been pulled into the well and had her life turned upside down. The second time had been the first time she'd ridden on Inuyasha's back. Of course, it had quickly evaporated when he had been such an asshole about something or other almost as soon as they had stopped for the day. She set the brush down and looked at herself in the new mirror placed in her room sometime in the afternoon.

She smiled as she surveyed herself. She had lost weight during her illness, then regained some of it during her training period, but not all that she had lost. The baby fat was gone from her face, giving her the look of a grown woman. Her hair, once wildly untamable, was smooth and sleek and fell down her back in panels of deep black, so black it was almost purple. Her skin was clear and a little paler than when she had come to Sesshomaru's palace. She was sure that was due to the fact that she had not been outside nearly as much as when she had been travelling around the country. Her eyes, though she couldn't say why, had taken on a slightly lighter tint, making them not so deep a brown, but more of a gently red-tinted brandy color. They were really quite beautiful. Perhaps they had always been that color, she mused, but she was just now noticing it because she finally realized just how beautiful she was. She was as beautiful as the others had told her time and time again. She looked like Kikyo.

She cocked her head to the side as the thought popped into her head. Yes, she did look more like Kikyo than she had in the past. But, while Kikyo's beauty would always be aloof and cold, Kagome knew hers would never be. She had children. One was lost to her, true, but it didn't change the fact that he was hers. There was something in her eyes and in the way that she smiled that would never be on Kikyo's face. It was love. She could remember reading "Peter Pan" as a young girl. She had always been fascinated with the description of the kiss hidden just in the corner of Mrs. Darling's sweet mouth that Wendy and her boys could never seem to get at because it was meant only for the child who would never have a mother but would always long for one. She was being overly fanciful, she knew, in her happiness, but she could just barely make out that there was one in the corner of her mouth as well. She wondered if all mothers had one as she set two fingers to the corner of her mouth.

She was brought out of her musing when the door to her room slipped open and Sesshomaru stepped inside and closed the door behind him. She brought her fingers away from her lips and smiled at him. He always looked so immaculate. The expression on his face was unreadable. It was not as cool as per usual, but at the same time it was not warm and open. She turned her knees toward him and bowed so that her forehead was almost to the floor.

"You did very well this evening, my favored. You have pleased me very much." He crossed the room to her in two quick strides and knelt next to her, cupping her chin in his hand and coaxing her slowly into an upright position so that he could look into her eyes.

"I thank you, my lord, for your praise." She took away complete subservience with a wry smile and a quirking of her eyebrow. Remarkably, almost, he didn't seem to notice either.

"I have a gift for you. A reward for your excellent performance at the ceremony."

"I need no reward, my lord."

"Never-the-less, you shall receive one. All of my concubines are rewarded when they please me as you have done tonight."

"Very well, may I make a request as my reward, Lord Sesshomaru?"

Now Sesshomaru's eyebrow quirked in annoyance. She was being very brash, demanding to choose her reward when he'd already chosen a fine kimono for her from the store that his mother had kept while she was still alive. Sesshomaru had never gifted one of his mother's kimonos to any of his concubines and thought he was being very generous. Yet, the way she made the request intrigued him. The light in her eyes as she looked at him intrigued him. The laugh in her voice intrigued him. There was something different about her now then there had been when they'd had their encounter in the bathing room this afternoon. He couldn't say exactly what it was, but it had him intrigued enough not to be particularly angry with her. Who knew, perhaps her request would be amusing.

"Make your request and I will decide whether or not I wish to grant it, Miko."

"May I please be allowed into the city now, my lord? I give you my word that I will not stray past boundaries you set for me, but I wish to be visible to the people of Nishi. And I grow restless, stuck inside the palace and the gardens all the time." The last had been added as an afterthought and Kagome wondered if she had overstepped her bounds in complaining. Sesshomaru looked at her for a moment, no expression on his face at all, then nodded slowly.

"That is agreeable. Take care that you do not leave without an escort, either Miyuki, Paru, myself, or any of the other concubines. And have a care as to the respect you show me, Miko."

"Yes, my lord. I am sorry for being so brash and presumptuous," There was a light in her eyes and she smiled at him wickedly. It was a smile meant to seduce, one of Kaida's signature moves. Yet, Kagome seemed to have mastered it as well. He felt himself begin to harden to think about being inside of her as he had not been for weeks, "I would like to share your bed now, my lord, if it is agreeable as well."

"Very agreeable, my favored."

"Well, then, it seems you have entirely too much clothing on. May I undress you?"

Sesshomaru could only nod, as his voice seemed to have deserted him. She made quick work of his heavy ceremonial robes, but slowed considerably once she was down to his inner clothing. She knelt behind him, slowly slipping the fabric down his shoulders, kissing the pale, bare skin as it appeared. He drew in his breath slowly as she kissed the scar on his arm where it had once been severed. As soon as he'd left it to heal it had regenerated rather quickly, but the seam between new and old flesh was still rather sensitive. When his clothing was pooled around his waist, she moved quickly so that she was in front of him, sitting in his lap with her long legs wrapped around him. She smiled when he put his arms around her and then leaned forward so that she could place gentle, smooth kisses to his neck. He tightened his hold on her and tossed his head back, giving her full access. In the back of his mind he wondered what made him so very comfortable with her. The position he was in made him very vulnerable should she decide to attack him. He was not stupid, he had felt the awakening of her powers in the hall before the ceremony. Yet, here he was, baring his neck to her, trusting completely that she would not attack him. Though, that could be fun as well. He'd often wondered, if the Miko's power ever awakened completely, what type of a fighter she would be. Would she be a match for him? Would they be a match for each other? Perhaps that was the better question.

"Miko," he gasped, as she jerked her hips forward to meet his, effectively pressing his erection between them.

"You went far away," she smiled almost innocently in response, "I had to do something to bring you back to me, didn't I?"

"Perhaps," he growled in response and set his hands to her hips, pulling her clothed center to his naked arousal and pressing upward.

"Hmm," she moaned, burying her hands in his long silver hair, "Do that again." He smiled when she gasped in arousal as he did as she said, then did it again and again, establishing a fast rhythm that would soon be the rhythm of their bodies as they were joined. He could feel himself growing harder as he watched her, riding him through her kimono, head thrown back, mouth open, tiny mewling sounds issuing every time their hips met. It was the sounds that undid him. He gently laid her down on the bedding and slashed the kimono she was wearing down the center with his claws. He hadn't the patience to deal with it at the moment. He growled from back in his throat, controlling his animal side, when she screamed uninhibitedly as he buried his face between her legs and thrust his tongue into her, copying the rhythm he had set before. She was thrashing and moaning around him before he was through, but he could feel her frustration when he pulled away. She looked at him accusingly.

"I haven't . . ."

"No," he laid himself lengthwise on top of her, supporting the weight of his upper body on his elbows, "I will be inside of you when you do." He took her lips in a harsh kiss and was pleased beyond words when she wrapped her arms around him tightly and gave herself over to him. He pulled away sooner than she was expecting however, and she made a sound of disappointment in her throat.

He suppressed a chuckle to see the pout on her face. Yes, she had truly awakened. No longer would she be the wilting flower. She was the strong, defiant woman he had always admired, though he would never tell anyone, and she expected to get what she wanted. Only now, she was his. And no one would ever take her from him. She was exactly what he'd been looking for in a woman. Strong, capable, yet still vulnerable and innocent enough to think that she needed him. She was less annoying now that she was out of his brother's company as well. But, what was it that you found pestering, actually? The voice in his head did not bother him as he gazed down on her. Did you find her pestering, or simply the fact that this gorgeous being was in your brother's company and not yours?

Take her! Make her ours! Mark her! His inner beast growled at him and he growled back in his mind to quiet it. He was prepared to admit that he wanted her physically. He'd even admit he was growing fond of her. She was good with his ward. Daughter, he reminded himself. He'd adopted her tonight. But, he would never mate a human. That was simply absurd.

"Sesshomaru," Kagome moaned, "Please stop going so far away and make love to me. Please, Sesshomaru."

"Yes, Miko." He allowed himself a smile when he slipped into her more than willing body and she arched to take him deeper. Her reactions were perfect and her heat threatened to make him lose all control. But, he'd done that once. He would not do it again. He moaned himself and dug a clawed hand into the futon as she continued kissing his neck and collar bone, making the same mewling noises that had undone him so earlier.

"Please," she whispered in his ear, "Oh, please."

He found it did not take long, nor considerable skill to have her screaming his name and digging her nails into his back. He was not surprised. His concubines always claimed that he was a great lover. It was a fact he was considerably proud of. What surprised him was the fact that she bit down on his shoulder in her passion as she came and that small action pushed him over the edge as well. He spilled his seed into her supple body and shook with the effort it cost him to keep himself from collapsing on her when he was spent and completed. She seemed to have an answer to the problem right away and surprised him with her speed as she used the force and inertia of her own body to roll him onto his back so that she could lie on his chest. She purred like a cat as she made herself comfortable, laying her head just above his beating heart and pulling her arms in close to her sides.

"Only a short rest, my favored," he chuckled from deep in his throat as he felt her begin to drift to sleep, "We have much lost time to make up for."

He was content when she simply made a small noise of acknowledgement and drifted away completely. He pulled one of the heavy robes from where it had been left and covered them both, tucking her head beneath his chin and wrapping his arms around her. She was incredible, as he'd expected all along. His brother had been blind for not seeing what was right in front of him for so long. Well, Inuyasha's loss was his gain. He was drifting off as well and didn't have the energy to wonder at why he was so possessive over her. For, he knew that she was his now, in almost every way. No matter what happened, she would be his for the rest of her natural life. He would never let her go. Never again.


	12. Chapter 12

All previous disclaimers apply.

Kagome allowed herself a luxurious stretch as she woke slowly, naturally, from her deep, restful sleep. The sun was already fully up, she noted the warmth in the room with a small smile and yawned as she set one hand over her heart and tucked the other under her head. She hadn't slept so late since the first time she and Sesshomaru had spent all night in each other's company. She tapped her finger against her chest counting how long ago that had been. Nearly two months? Even now she was normally up with the sun, a remnant of her time traveling with Inuyasha, but her night had been a long one and she deserved to sleep in a little bit after it, she thought. Her smile turned into a little bit of a smirk as she recalled the night she and Sesshomaru had shared. He had been voracious in his physical want for her last night, not giving her much time to recover in between what she had come to term "rounds." Her hand moved down to her belly when she felt the desire beginning anew just thinking about it. She had never known this type of want and attraction. Just picturing him in her head could make her so aroused she might have to slip off for a little bit of private time. Kaida had tried to explain when she was teaching her that with the right lover this was the way things were supposed to be, but Kagome had never quite believed her until she had actually become Sesshomaru's. She felt wild and wanted, shy and taken care of, needy and demanding all in turn depending on the night. Sometimes, like last night, she felt them all in the course of just a few hours. Sesshomaru was what the others had tried to tell her. He was an incredible lover. It made her just a little bit melancholy that he was never there when she woke. It would have been nice to wake in his arms, even just once.

"Hmph," she made a noise from the back of her throat as she rolled over onto her stomach and looked at herself in the mirror across the room. There was no use thinking like that. She had to remember her place. She was not a lover, she was a concubine. Sesshomaru had no responsibilities to romance her beyond giving her the same pleasure he demanded. It wouldn't do to let her emotions become involved. She had done that once before with a lover and been let down. Inuyasha had never had any intention of staying with her. She could admit that to herself now. She was a good for a quick rut when he was feeling the urge, but his heart was with Kikyo. It always would be. The fact that she looked so much like his dead lover only made it easier for him to pretend she was the priestess and not a girl from the future.

But, still . . . it was becoming more and more difficult to remain detached when Sesshomaru was acting as he was recently. He spent every night in her company. Most nights they made love before she fell asleep in his arms. She would wake alone, but there would always been something left on the pillow for her as a reward for a pleasurable night. Sometimes it was a flower, a new comb for her hair, or perhaps a new scroll for her reading pleasure. Though it was considered very unusual for a woman, especially a concubine, to read, Sesshomaru indulged her peculiar habits and even enjoyed them when he saw her sitting in the garden, reading to Rin and the other concubines as they did the busy work that occupied their days and the young girl made them all flower chains for their hair. On nights when he could not seem to get enough of her body the reward was a little bit more substantial the next morning. She had woken three times to very new, very expensive kimonos, twice to jewelry that she was afraid to touch it looked so valuable, and once to a small black fire bird with bright blue eyes sitting on a perch simply watching her. She had taken to calling him False because of the false sparks that came from him when he was happy or upset and it wasn't unusual anymore to see him on her shoulder.

Just a little over two weeks ago Sesshomaru had come to her room later than usual, exhausted and unkempt. It was so unlike him that she had almost been too shocked to move. He had explained to her that there had been a mudslide in one of the villages on his lands and he had spent most of the day and well into the evening aiding in the rescuing of trapped villagers. She had asked him if it was his responsibility to see it done. He had surprised her by laying on his stomach on her futon and telling her that every person under his rule was his responsibility. He depended on them to provide food and goods that kept the palace and the rest of his lands running smoothly and therefore it was his responsibility to help them in any way that was in his power when they needed him. She had massaged his tense shoulders until he had fallen asleep under her touch, then she had curled up next to him and spent nearly an hour simply looking at his peaceful face before sleep claimed her as well. The reward the next day had been a new room in the same wing of the palace as his own. There was a private garden that could only be reached from his room or hers. They had spent that afternoon making love outside in the privacy and sunshine.

They had become . . . comfortable with each other and it was a very strange sensation at first. He was still as stoic as ever, but she could tell that he let his guard down around her because he felt comfortable enough to fall asleep when she was still awake. She hadn't thought it unusual until she told the others and they had told her that Sesshomaru had never fallen asleep with any of them in the room. He trusted them as much as a taiyokai could trust a concubine, but that didn't mean he would purposefully leave himself vulnerable to anyone. Kagome laughingly told them that it was probably because he knew she was loyal to him and just as powerful that he felt comfortable enough to fall asleep with her. This made the rest of them giggle behind their hands and give each other knowing looks that drove Kagome crazy, but they refused to tell her just what it was they found so humorous.

He had become more open with Rin as well. It wasn't uncommon, even in the city, to see him carrying the young girl on his hip. He did not show his affection in a way that most would recognize, but she noticed the differences. He would rub her back to keep her calm when they were in crowds. He stroked her hair when she said something that pleased him. The mere facts that he would carry her or let her hold his hand was extremely telling. Kagome personally thought that he had a long way to go, but she was pleased with his progress. He had come such a long way in just two months. How could she not feel affection for him? How could you not feel something for the man who took care of the child you had taken on as your own and made love to you every night?

Every night? The phrase suddenly caught in her mind. She and Sesshomaru had made love almost every day for two months. Perhaps it was because she wasn't in her original time and things were so different here that she hadn't thought about it. But, how could she be so stupid? She was up and in a casual kimono in minutes, rushing down the hall before she even knew what she intended. She found herself outside of Miyuki's study and opened the door slowly.

"Miyuki?" she called shyly, not sure why she was so nervous.

"Yes, Kagome?" Miyuki was alone. She would only ever be so casual with her lord's favored when they were alone. With a sigh of relief, Kagome stepped in the room and shut the door quickly behind her. The beautiful kitsune looked up from her work with a smile on her face, but it quickly faded when she saw Kagome's pale face, bare feet, and loose hair.

"Kagome, what's wrong?" She got up and took the young Miko's arm, afraid that she might faint or fall over.

"I . . ." Kagome began, then looked down at her feet, "Miyuki, can yokai sense a pregnancy in humans?"

"Certainly. It's harder for us and we have to concentrate. It's a little easier of course, if the child is a hanyou. Spiritual powers such as your own sometimes cover the scent of pregnancy somewhat, but that can be overcome by concentrating harder on . . ." She finally caught on to what Kagome was asking and set a finger under her chin to bring the favored's eyes up to meet her own, "My lady, what are you trying to ask me?"

"I need you to confirm a pregnancy, Miyuki. I need you to confirm . . . my pregnancy."

Author's Note: Just a little while longer and where the others are will be revealed. Just hold on for a bit more, all you who have asked about it! Almost there!


	13. Chapter 13

All previous disclaimers apply.

She was waiting for him when he came to her room late in the evening, after the last meal of the day and the evening rituals that had to be completed before Rin would sleep were over. That, in itself, was not unusual. Kagome generally waited for him in the evenings. What was unusual was that his favored concubine, indeed the only concubine he had required for many weeks, was still fully clothed and radiated nervousness as he slid the door open and stepped inside the room. He had almost gotten used to her being bare as the day she was born and waiting for him in the near dark unless he instructed her differently. He had not given her different instructions for this night, yet there she sat, in the middle of the room, in the most casual of day kimonos, her head bowed so that her loose hair covered her face. Sesshomaru frowned to feel the tug in his chest, the beast within him demanding that he take away whatever was causing his beauty so much pain and grief. He had to fight with himself not to simply swoop into the room and take her into his arms to nuzzle and demand that she let him correct whatever was causing her such distress. Instead, he walked calmly to where she sat, the dread growing in his chest with every step, and knelt in front of her.

"Tell me what causes this distress, My Lady Miko," He said quietly, putting two fingers underneath her chin so that he could lift her face to look at him. His dread grew when he saw the tears in her eyes that she had not let fall and the tracks on her face from those she had.

"I didn't mean for it to happen, My Lord," she whispered. He could see her shaking and this time did not stop himself from taking her into his arms and settling her on his lap, "I didn't think about it or what might happen."

"What has happened, Miko?" he demanded, his voice a little more rough than he intended when he realized just how much he hated feeling like he could not breathe because of a distress that was not his own. He had sworn, years ago, that he would never let something like this happen. He would never care for anyone above himself. And yet now . . . Rin and Kagome. He was fond of her, he admitted silently. He wasn't sure as to how the care might grow or fade, but he could no longer pretend that he did not care for her, and the girl he had taken on as his daughter. He didn't bother to resist nuzzling the side of her neck to soothe when he felt her jerk at his tone of voice. Once it was admitted, there was no use in hiding it behind closed doors.

"It was confirmed for me this afternoon, My Lord. I am pregnant."

He froze. Pregnant. It was the one thing he had not expected in the least. The Miko was pregnant by his seed. It would be a hanyou child. The one creature he had sworn to hate for all eternity, he was going to be partly responsible for creating.

"You are the only great lord who has not fathered a hanyou child," Miyuki's voice entered his mind, a discussion they had had not two days ago when they were making last minute preparations for the Great Gathering, "The others lords have come to realize fewer and fewer demons are being born each year. The only way to assure the continuation of demon blood in the future, no matter how diluted, will be the existence of hanyous and their offspring."

"Why do you tell me this, Miyuki?"

"You are a strong ruler, My Lord, and your people are loyal. But, not even you could stand against the might of all three of the other lords together should you insult them without realization."

It was a logical explanation, but somehow Sesshomaru was coming to realize that Miyuki perhaps had other reasons for expressing it to him at the time. Had he and the Miko been the only ones not to think about the fact that they made love with wild abandon and did not think to protect themselves from such a thing as this? Suddenly he felt like a very young lordling again, making stupid mistakes because he simply was not thinking. He had always been very careful not to impregnate any of the other concubines especially after Hiroko's accidental pregnancy and subsequent miscarriage had caused her so much pain. But, just like the trembling Miko in his arms at the moment, he had simply not considered that it might happen. A part of him wanted to be angry at her and at himself, but a much larger part of him considered an argument Paru had made when he was considering taking the Miko as his most favored concubine.

Kagome was as powerful as any demon lord and she was his. There was respect for him in the fact that he had tamed the infamously untamable woman. The other lords had human lovers, but theirs were not nearly as powerful as even a base demon. They were good in bed, at times, and that was all. To have a child with the Miko, even a hanyou . . . the child would be powerful as well. His strength, perhaps her spiritual power. A hanyou child of such a union as this might just be as powerful as a demon lord, trained properly it was a certainty. Trained by the best masters, the child might even become even more powerful than a demon lord. To be the father of such a child . . . there was no shame in such a thing. And Miyuki had been correct, too. Fewer and fewer demons were born each year. Should he live a millennium longer, his line would still end. The inuyokai would die out eventually, unless the blood was preserved by the birth of hanyous.

And the Miko would be the only one he would consider pupping for all of his life. He knew it suddenly with a certainty that he could not explain. There would be no other for him. She would be his mate. But, first he had to convince her that it was a good idea. He would have to ease her into the idea, make her think she had thought of it. He would wait until she demanded that he mate her, even though his inner beast, now that they were in accordance, demanded that he stop nuzzling and mark her as his in that instant. He calmed it with a short assurance that she would be theirs as soon as she realized the benefits to such an arrangement. He had no pretenses. They would not love each other. They would be fond of each other, passionate lovers, and perhaps even friends. Many successful matings were made on much less. He was sure she would feel the same way and silenced his inner beast with a growl when it whined at him.

"Does the prospect of birthing my pup seem so terrible, then?" he questioned quietly of the trembling woman in his arms.

"You," she looked up, her shock obvious on her face, "You're not angry with me?"

"Why would I be angry?" He could tell she was surprised at the gentleness of his voice and decided that he liked when he could surprise her and keep her just a little off balance.

"The child will be hanyou, My Lord."

"The child will be mine," he said with strength of resolve in his voice he had not felt until that instant. Suddenly he believed all the things he had been trying to convince himself of in his mind and he finally realized why his father had had such affection for Inuyasha, "Nothing else matters."

"Yes, My Lord," her smile was like the sun. Suddenly, he knew. He would not be satisfied to be her friend and her lover. He wanted everything from her. When she looked at him he wanted her to feel the same tightness in her chest that he felt in his whenever he saw her. He wanted her to long for him when he was gone as he longed for her. He wanted her to feel she could not survive without him as he knew he could not survive without her. She was like the air to him.

It was disconcerting, to say the least. He had sworn that he would never love anything to the point of needing it to survive. He had sworn to hate humans all his existence. And yet, he needed her. He loved her. And she was human. With everything else he had ever had to deal with in his lifetime he had been able to separate his emotions from his head, almost to the point of killing them so that he didn't think he had them anymore. Who could have known that it would take a little human girl to begin to crack the walls, then a beautiful woman he had tried to kill more than once to finish the job? He found he could not get angry about it, even when he should have. At one time in his life he had thought that if he allowed himself a weakness, as he had seen love, than he would be taken advantage of and never be the ruler his father wanted him to be. Now he realized that the compassion she had brought to him would make him a stronger ruler. He would be fierce in the protection of his lands because were he ever to be defeated she would be killed and he could not allow that.

He now understood why his father had died. To love one woman so much. He would die to save Kagome as well. It seemed the inuyokai lords had a weakness for beautiful human women. Perhaps not such a weakness, he thought as he began to kiss her neck and smiled when she moaned from the back of her throat in that way that drove him mad. A fondness, certainly. Yes, she would be his mate, and his love, when she asked for it. He was giving so much already, he had to salvage a little bit of his dignity. And his arrogance, he allowed. The other lords would arrive tomorrow to begin the Great Gathering. By the time they left, Sesshomaru of the Western Lands would take Kagome, the great Miko, as his mate.

He laid down, surprising her when he kept her up with an arm to her shoulder. When his other hand sliced the fabric from her body and reached in between her legs she understood. He was pleased to find that she grew wet quickly once she understood what it was he was looking for. He kept his eyes on her face as she rode his fingers, seeking pleasure only he would ever give her. She was beautiful with her eyes closed and her head thrown back. He felt the tightening of her muscles and pulled his fingers away, licking her essence off of them. She just smiled at him softly and went to work removing all fabric obstacles between their bodies joining. When he was finally free she positioned herself over him and sunk down, suppressing a scream. He could take it for much longer. He had to switch their positions or else he was going to disgrace himself. He wanted, more than anything, to get her up on her knees and take her from behind. But, he knew that if he were to do so, he would end up marking her, the instinct to do so just too much. So, instead he pulled out, rolled her over onto her back and got to his knees. He grabbed her hips and proceeded to reenter her as she wrapped her legs around his waist.

"Harder," she murmured after a moment. She looked up at him when he hesitated, "Sesshomaru, harder."

"The pup . . ."

"Will be just fine. Please, My Lord, harder."

"As you wish." He held her hips down with one hand, and kept her arms above her head with the other as he jerked his hips again and again, going deeper with everything thrust. Her moans in his ear were getting to be too much for him. He would not allow himself to find fulfillment before her, but he wasn't sure how much longer he was going to last. He let himself go when she moaned his name in that deep, wonderful voice she only used when she was feeling too much to scream.

"Thank you, My Lord," she whispered as he leaned over to kiss her deeply.

"Thank you, Kagome," he answered back, not qualifying it with what he was thanking her for. Let her figure it out. Curious, he slipped down her satiated body until he was at her stomach. She giggled when he pressed his face to her and sniffed deeply, taking in the scent of his pups growing within her.

"There is more than one," he looked up at her and was pleased to see her eyes brighten with joy.

"How many?" she asked.

"Too soon to tell. In a few more weeks I will be able to tell you. Genders as well if you wish it."

"Hmm . . ." she murmured, "Maybe."

"It's been a long day for you," It was a statement, not a question. She was already almost asleep when he moved her to the futon and laid down next to her, wrapping her in his arms.

"Will you stay?" she was too asleep to know what she was asking.

"I will," he answered as he closed his eyes and let the rhythm of her breathing lull him into a contented sleep.


	14. Chapter 14

All previous disclaimers apply.

**Author's Note: Very short chapter. Sorry. More coming soon.**

"Does anyone else feel like we're on display?" Kagome laughed quietly as she sat on the comfortable cushions placed in the open air gardens just inside the defensive palace walls, her needlework spread over her lap, and the other concubines surrounding her, each doing her own small works. The Great Gathering had begun. Today all of the Great Lords, their ladies and children, their generals, and honor guards had all arrived in Nishi. Now, exactly at midday, they were all formally processing into the castle grounds while Sesshomaru watched from the grand entrance of the castle as according to tradition. The Great Lords walked side by side. Kagome could see the Eagle Lord of the North. Just next to him was the Dragon Lord of the East. She couldn't quite see the Wolf Lord of South because the Dragon Lord was so very tall, but she imagined that he was as elaborately dressed and holding his head just as high as the other two. Just behind the Lords marched two generals for each, along with the heir should one have been already named, then the honor guard for each lord surrounding the lords' wives and young children. Kagome was not as fascinated by the Lords and their parties as she thought she would be. Perhaps it was because Sesshomaru had been so blasé to the point of dislike about the Great Gathering that she found more interest in the daily workings of the castle than she did in this special event.

"But, sister," Akina giggled, flipping her long hair over her shoulder expertly so that it was not in her way as she leaned over the doll she was making for Rin to scrutinize the visibility of the stitches, "We _are_ on display."

"I'm sorry?" Kagome nearly dropped her embroidery in surprise, "We're what?"

"On display," Hoshiko smiled at Kagome's dropped jaw, "Close your mouth, sister. You are not a fish."

"During the Great Gathering it is customary for the hosting lord to offer his concubines to the other lords and their generals should they require female companionship for the duration," Cho giggled identically to her twin.

"Do not fret, little one," Hiroko's laugh was a deep, wonderful sound. They did not hear it often, so it brought smiles to all of their faces, even Kagome's, despite her current shock.

"No one will be touching you, sister love," Aiko almost sang her words as she continued gently playing the lap harp she held, "You are Lord Sesshomaru's favored. Not even another Great Lord is allowed to touch you. It would be as if they were touching Lord Sesshomaru's Lady."

"An offence punishable by death," Etsu put in before turning to smile discreetly at one of the Eastern Lord's generals. The last Great Gathering that had been held in Nishi, there hadn't been a night they hadn't spent in each other's company. It had been a good and memorable time. She hoped it would be repeated. Judging by the look on his face, it would be.

"Should someone touch you, the lords are required by ancient law to see the offender punished, even if he is another Great Lord. No one dares to break ancient law," Kaida reached over and rubbed Kagome's wrist comfortingly, knowing how a familiar touch could have a very soothing effect, "Relax, sister love. Ancient law aside, Lord Sesshomaru would kill anyone who dared to touch you simply on principle, and I think you know that."

Kagome just smiled and looked over at her lord, standing in the doorway of the castle, Rin hanging onto his hand. She caught his eye and gave him a wide smile. Very soberly, he nodded at her. From anyone else, it would have been as if they had shared a conspiratorial wink, so it pleased her greatly. Yes, Sesshomaru would tear anyone apart who dared to touch her. Somehow, that fact satisfied her beyond what she could say.

"Who is that?" The young eagle yokai, Tsubasa, could not take his eyes off of the raven haired beauty seated on the cushion in the middle of Lord Sesshomaru's concubines.

Hayato, the most trusted general of the court of the North, followed his young lord's gaze, "That is the Great Miko, Kagome. She is Lord Sesshomaru's most favored concubine and the subject of many tales of great power and generosity. She was travelling with his hanyou brother, Inuyasha, until recently. No one is quite sure how she came to be here."

"She's the most beautiful thing I have ever seen," Tsubasa couldn't help the dream-like quality that entered his voice.

"She is quite beautiful, but have a care, young lord," the general allowed his voice to take on an edge, "Do no more than look or your life is forfeit to Lord Sesshomaru and not even your father will be able to protect you. Do you understand what I tell you?"

"I understand," Tsubasa said automatically, then vowed silently to himself that the Great Miko would be his before he left the Gathering. He felt the front of his pants tighten when she threw her head back and laughed, exposing her unmarked throat. He could only imagine what it would feel like to sink his fangs into that beautiful ivory column, marking her forevermore as his own. And with her by his side, he would be the most powerful Taiyokai ever to rule the North.

_Soon, my beauty,_ he promised silently, _I will take you away from Old Man Sesshomaru and you will be mine. _


	15. Chapter 15

All previous disclaimers apply.

Sesshomaru couldn't help the frustrated growl that came from his throat the moment he was in Kagome's room. Despite how angry and annoyed he was, it did not displease him to notice that she no longer flinched every time he growled. Instead, she simply put down the bottle of sweet smelling lotion she was rubbing into her skin and turned to look at him, a calm and questioning expression on her face. He knew he was acting less dignified than he had in almost seventy years when he sat heavily on her futon with a great sigh, but he found that he couldn't care when Kagome simply moved to him and began massaging his shoulders firmly. His low growl was one of pleasure when her talented hands began to loosen the hard knots brought on by strain caused from annoyance. He hated the Great Gathering, he always had, but this year it seemed to be particularly bothersome. The young heir to the North was an arrogant fly he wanted to swat more than anything, but protocol demanded that unless he was overtly insulted he could to nothing. Beside that, the Lord of the North had been a friend to his father and was an honorable yokai. It was not his fault that his eldest son had ended up as a foul rat with no back bone.

The first of the formal councils held this evening just after all of the lords took their meals separately had seemed to go on for hours. He had always gotten along well enough with the lord of the North, but, for obvious reasons, the Dragon Lord of the East did not trust him any more than he trusted the reptile. It was almost a miracle that their lands had been at peace with each other for so long. Speaking with the Eastern Lord was always an exercise in covert insults to be given and ignored when more were given back to him. Some years it was almost a game, an amusement, but this year the Dragon Lord had almost lost his human mate and had lost their first child to a difficult birth. The Lady had recovered, but the death of her child had left her in a constant state of mourning that the dragon could do nothing to assuage. This put Sesshomaru on edge, thinking about what might happen when Kagome was ready to give birth to their pups, and so the insults he and the dragon traded carried the anger and fear that they would never actually voice behind them. More than once, both tempers had almost been lost and it was only due to the cool heads of their respective generals that there had not been blood shed in the council chamber.

The Wolf Lord of the South was more an annoyance than anything. Though three of the four lords were quite young, he was the youngest and the least experienced. Kouga was a good leader to his many tribes, but his people were the least civilized of any of the yokai still roaming the lands. Sesshomaru had to fight not to turn his nose up at the furs they still wore, the caves they still lived in. There was no finesse to the way Kouga handled his negotiations, nor his lands. He was not entirely stupid, having many older and more experienced elders leading different tribes until he was completely certain that he could take over the leadership of so many spread so far apart, but he had no idea what he was supposed to do at these gatherings and it showed. His father had been killed before Kouga could be completely trained and his arrogance had demanded that he refuse training with one of the other Lords, though ancient law demanded that they offer it. He made it clear again and again that he would rather be running free with his core tribe than in the chamber until Sesshomaru just wanted to reach over and smack him upside the head and snarl that he go.

Sesshomaru's annoyance with Kouga was only amplified by the fact that he knew Kagome had met him and that he had declared that she would one day be his. Because he travelled so much it was obvious that he had not heard that Kagome now belonged to Sesshomaru or he would have put up a scene as soon as he entered the castle city. Sesshomaru had made sure that he entered the city as far away from her as possible so that he would not see her quite yet. Inexperience and youthful arrogance were no excuse to kill him. He was not like the Northern heir. He would be a great ruler some day, but if he found out about Kagome in any way other than a very specific, private way Sesshomaru had planned already he would cause a scene that ancient law would dictate Sesshomaru kill him for. And if he killed the princeling he would have to take over the Southern lands as well and it would be too much of a headache to do so. So, he would tell Kouga about Kagome tomorrow, perhaps have an entertaining fight with him, then watch as he simmered when she entered the formal dinner on his own arm. It would be quite entertaining, indeed.

"What causes this stress, My Lord?" Kagome whispered close to his ear, placing a quick kiss just where his jaw met his neck, "You're so tense."

"The Great Gathering is tedious at the best of times," he murmured as she cleverly began to loosen his robes around him so that she could touch her soft hands to his skin as she continued to massage.

"Hmm," she hummed from the back of her throat and moved his hair so that she could kiss the back of his neck, "I found the formal procession rather boring this afternoon. Will the formal dinner be as boring tomorrow evening?"

"I am actually anticipating that it will be very amusing," he dropped his head forward as she kneaded his lower neck, "There will be someone you know there tomorrow and his jealousy over the fact that you are mine will be quite obvious."

"Who is it?"

He turned to look at her when her voice seemed off to him. He couldn't help but turn and take her in his arms when he noticed that her face was deathly pale, her eyes distant. She had a hand set over her womb, just beginning to show evidence of her pregnancy, protectively and was biting her lip in a nervous habit that he hadn't seen her use in quite a long time. His voice was low as he responded to her.

"Kouga, the Wolf Prince of the South."

She drew in her breath quickly and had him tense again in seconds, "Please, My Lord, I know that I am not supposed to speak to any other man without your permission. May I please have your permission to speak to Kouga?"

"Why do you want to speak with the Wolf Prince?" His voice was harsher than he meant it to be when he let her go and stood. He needed air, and so walked over to the sliding door that led to the porch of the private garden. He leaned against the frame when he had opened the door completely, looking out at the peaceful garden.

"I . . ." she stood and walked over to him, stayed just behind him, "He may have news of my son, My Lord. And of my travelling companions lost to me so many months ago. I have not forgotten about them, Lord. I could not."

Sesshomaru's breath caught in his throat momentarily though his voice was stable when he spoke again, "You wish, perhaps, to leave Nishi if you find Inuyasha again? After all I have done for you, you would leave me so quickly?"

"After all you have done for me?" Kagome felt her temper flare, but did nothing to stop it, "Sesshomaru, you came upon me when I was out of my mind with grief, unable to think for myself at all. You wounded me almost to the point of death, and then you enslaved me here. Just what do you think you have done for me?"

"You will have a care how you speak to me, Miko," His voice was a warning growl, but she did not heed it.

"I will not!" She realized that she was screaming at him, but instead of feeling nervous about it, she only felt liberated, "I have never known someone more arrogant! You act as if I owe you something! You made me a whore, Sesshomaru! And yet, I'm still here or haven't you noticed? I could walk out of this city at any time I wanted to, I could take Rin with me and purify your ass! But, I'm still here!"

"Why, Miko?" he demanded harshly, turning too quickly for her to see, grabbing her arms and digging his claws into her soft flesh, "If you believe all of this, why are you still here?"

"If I have to spell it out for you, you're more stupid than I thought!" She screamed straight into his face.

"You will have a care how you speak to me!" He finally lost his composure and shook her a little. He knew it was a mistake the moment he did it. His beast howled at him that he was shaking the female carrying his pups. But, before he could release her and utter the first apology he would have spoken in many years her spiritual energy flared and burned his hands, forcing him to release her.

"You will not touch me in anger!" She screamed, "You will not raise a hand to me while I carry our pups within me or any other time. If you ever do so again . . ." he believed her when her aura flared around her ". . . I will kill you without a second thought."

"Kagome," he turned to face the garden again, "I am sorry." The words were like choking on a sword, but he forced them out despite the fact. She knew how hard they were for him and felt her heart break a little for the man who could not express his emotions, though he felt them, she was sure. Her anger left her as quickly as it had come and she found herself pressing against his back, wrapping her arms around his waist before she could stop herself. An apology was all she needed to know what she had been hoping in her heart for months.

"Sesshomaru." she whispered, "Don't you know by now that I don't want to leave you? I want to find them, it's true. I need to know what happened to my son, but I don't want to leave you. I couldn't. I carry your pups within me. Do you think it means nothing to me?"

He couldn't answer her, but found himself turning around slowly, allowing her to keep her arms around his waist. Though his beast demanded once again that he take her and make her his, especially now that she had all but given him her consent, he simply took her face in his hands and pressed his lips to hers in the first gentle, chaste kiss he had ever given. It was a kiss meant to express all he was feeling and would never say.

"You may speak to the wolf tomorrow," he whispered as they pulled apart gently only to hold each other close, her cheek to his chest and his chin to her hair.

"Thank you," she whispered back, "My Lord . . . my love."


	16. Chapter 16

All previous disclaimers apply.

"You bastard!"

Sesshomaru couldn't help the smirk that spread crossed his face as the young wolf prince launched himself from across the room, fully intent upon tearing his heart from his body. Kouga fought much as he ruled. His heart and passion were in the right place, but when he allowed his emotions to rule his mind was not involved at all. Had Sesshomaru been younger and less well trained than he was, the pure passion in Kouga's style might have overtaken him. However, since he was extremely well trained and older than the wolf prince, he easily side-stepped the younger demon and spun faster than Kouga could react to pin him against the wall by the neck. Sesshomaru was no fool. He knew that Kouga had shards of the Shikon jewel in his shins and that his speed was a great asset, so it was the first thing that Sesshomaru took away, keeping Kouga's feet suspended above the ground. Sesshomaru tightened his hold on the princeling's neck, effectively cutting off Kouga's air, when he began to shout more insults at him.

"You will control yourself, wolfling," he said mildly, holding back a chuckle when Kouga glared at him unrepentedly, "It is only through my will that you will survive this gathering at all. You do realize that, according to ancient law, I have every right to kill you for your insults, do you not? Think on what would happen to your people and your lands should I decide to invoke my right. I can guarantee you that I would not take the rule of your land and your people would be left defenseless and leaderless. The other lords would not object to expanding their lands and they would not take kindly to your people. The wolves would be left as beggars, not welcome in any land, even that which once belonged to them. Think on that."

He had been expecting this, Sesshomaru mused. Kouga was a hot head. He had taken Kouga to this room across the castle from the other lords so that they could not hear when the fight began so that they could not force him to uphold ancient law. Of course, it had been quite an amusement to see Kouga's face contort in rage when he was told that Kagome was Sesshomaru's newest concubine, but he found now that he wasn't interested in a true fight with the wolf. He just wanted to get everything settled so that he could move onto the hundred other little things he had to do before the formal dinner this evening, including making love to Kagome in the bath. The thought nearly had him smiling before he turned his thoughts back to the task at hand. What he had told Kouga was true. If he was gone, the other lords would swoop down upon his lands like vultures. He did not tell Kouga that his people would survive, because, out of pity, they would be welcomed in the West, but that was better not said when trying to get the bad-tempered wolf to think his actions through. Kouga had stopped struggling, but Sesshomaru couldn't tell if it was because he was actually thinking or if he was dangerously close to losing consciousness from lack of air. He decided that it was time to let Kouga breathe when his eyes rolled back in his head. He dropped the wolf to the ground and turned his back.

"Now, we can continue in a more civilized manner, or you can throw insults at me again and I can invoke my right and kill you. I leave the decision in your hands, wolfling." When Kouga didn't respond Sesshomaru turned around and sat opposite him, not bothering to stop the smirk when he saw that Kouga was rubbing his neck and trying to glare a hole in his head, "Good choice. Now, I fully understand that you once held claim on the Miko . . ."

"I was going to mate her!" Kouga couldn't help the outburst, though his voice was rough still, "I had claim on her, Sesshomaru!"

"You never claimed her in an official capacity. She was still free, according to all laws."

"That's just a technicality! You stole her! I've been searching for her for months and all this time she has been enslaved here! I would have come for her in an instant if I'd known!"

"I stole nothing. I admit, at first, she was akin to a slave here. However, we have discussed it and now the Miko continues on here of her own will. She has found a place here, prince. She will not be leaving unless it is with me at her side. I have claimed her officially as my favored. I will be claiming her as my mate before the Gathering has ended. Your claim on her is void. Any attempt by you to take her will result in your death. If you try to convince her to leave with lies to the effect that you known where my brother and her companions are I will kill you without a second's hesitation. She is carrying my pups and I will not have her upset."

"But, I . . ." Kouga began, then froze, "Pups? You've pupped her without mating her? You bas . . ."

Sesshomaru stopped a new tirade with the rise of one perfect eyebrow. He was more pleased than he should have been when Kouga stopped at his expression and took a breath, thinking through what he wanted to say. Now Sesshomaru knew how to deal with him. Like any good leader, if you made Kouga remember his people and their welfare, his only thought was for them. With one expression Sesshomaru was able to remind him what would happen to them without him there.

"Mate her soon." He grunted.

"I will have no bastard children," Sesshomaru gave by way of response. Kouga's eyes went wide as he remember what he had been about to say.

"Sesshomaru, I have her kit! We found him weeks ago, alone, trying to defend himself from a pack of big cat yokai who had gone feral. They almost killed him before we got there, but he managed to hold on. Some of the women of my tribe nursed him back to health. He hasn't spoken a word since we found him, but we've been searching for Kagome and the others since then, the kit and I. I can't get him to tell me his name and I don't remember it, but . . ."

"Shippou," Sesshomaru interjected, "The kit's name is Shippou. Kagome has been missing him greatly. Losing him nearly broke her. Where is the kit now?"

"He's with my core tribe just at the border of our lands. If I leave now I can have him to her by late tomorrow afternoon. He needs her, Sesshomaru."

"She needs him as well," Sesshomaru stood up, "Bring him to her, Wolf. I will . . . make excuses for you at the formal dinner tonight."

Kouga grinned, "She's gotten to you, hasn't she? Isn't that just some thing? Ice Lord Sesshomaru fallen hard for a human. No, don't bother to deny it," he waved a hand when Sesshomaru opened his mouth to speak, "I'd think you were an idiot if you didn't fall for her after having her for so long. There's just something about her, I guess. She makes you forget that she's human, doesn't she? Makes you forget everything but her. I remit any claim I may have once had on her. But, don't think that I won't come take her away, damn the consequences, if you ever hurt her."

Sesshomaru had no reaction to the last statement other than to slide open the door and walk out. Just because he had admitted something to himself didn't mean that he wanted everyone else to know it. He let out a low growl in warning when Kouga joined him in the hall, chuckling. The wolf only grinned at him once more, opened a door that led outside, and took off, his customary whirlwind surrounding him. Sesshomaru shut the door calmly. He debated for just a few moments whether or not to tell Kagome that her kit lived and would be with her soon. He had just decided on telling her when Miyuki came running up to him.

"My Lord, I am sorry to bother you with something so trivial, but a fight has broken out between some of your soldiers and some of the dragon's soldiers. Unless both lords are there to decided who should be punished I'm afraid more blood will be spilt."

Sesshomaru sighed inwardly. Telling Kagome and watching her face light with joy would have to wait. He nodded at Miyuki and swept down the hall. His patience with the Gathering had just about reached its end. He turned his head just slightly when he passed Kagome's room, where he knew she would be preparing for the formal dinner, and breathed the scent of her contentment in deeply before continuing on his way. He didn't notice when, as he left, a figure stepped out of the shadows, a snarl on his face for Sesshomaru that transformed into a smile as he slipped into the Great Miko's room.

"Miko," Tsubasa grinned as he spotted the woman, kneeling of the floor in front of her vanity, naked as the day she was born, brushing her hair.

"What are you doing here?" Kagome screamed, pulling her robe to her to cover herself, "Get out of here now!"

"Miko," Tsubasa turned his voice into a seductive purr, "Miko, I have come for you."


	17. Chapter 17

All previous disclaimers apply.

"Miko," Tsubasa turned his voice into a seductive purr, "Miko, I have come for you."

"You have exactly three seconds to get out of my sight," Kagome quickly turned around and put her loose robe on, tying it at the waist before she turned around, "You are young," her voice was deep and low in warning, her eyes were narrowed, "You may think something that is not true. I do not want to hurt you."

"Of course you don't," Tsubasa's smile never fell. He continued to approach her, "You know I only want to take you far away from here. I want to take you to the North where you can be my Lady and someday rule the Northern lands with me. You don't have to stay with Old Man Sesshomaru. You can come with me. It will be incredible, Miko. With you by my side, nothing will stop us."

"Old man?" Kagome scoffed in disbelief, "I should kill you for insulting my lord. I have given you much more time than you deserve, Heir of the North. Get out of my room now."

"Wouldn't you rather have a young, virile yokai as your lord, my coy one?" He moved so fast Kagome didn't have time to react before he had her pressed up against the wall. She growled from deep in the back of her throat as he ground against her. She was actually pleased at the sound she was able to produce. It seemed something of Sesshomaru had rubbed off on her at least. And it wasn't the only thing. She could feel her temper rising hot and fast inside. How dare this insolent, sniveling weakling put his hands on her?

"You will remove your hands," Kagome gave one last warning as he ran his hands freely down her front, "Or I will remove them for you."

"You're pupped," he sneered, "No worries, My Lady. When we get to the North, we will remove them from you belly. You won't be forced to bring more inu-bastards into the world. I swear it to you now."

"Now you go too far, Heir of the North!" She screamed, bringing her hand up, focusing her spiritual energy on it, and swiping it down his face. She was satisfied when he pulled away with a scream of pain, angry marks oozing dark red blood down his face and neck where she had dug her fingers into his skin and burned it away with her spiritual powers, "I can forgive you calling my lord an old man. You are young and foolish. I can even forgive your assumptions on my character, though I can't imagine how you can even speak with your mouth so full of arrogance. But, you have threatened my pups and that I can not forgive!"

"You bitch!" Tsubasa screamed, setting a hand to his bleeding face and lashing out with the other. She hadn't expected him to lash out so quickly and was surprised when his hand stuck her hard enough to snap her head back. She growled again, but it became more of a scream of rage. He screamed over her, "I would have given you everything. Now I think I'll just kill you!"

"You could try," Kagome smiled wickedly. He ran toward her screaming in rage and she was surprised at her own reaction when she merely laughed when he was held at bay by the aura of her power alone. She knew how things had to be done and, despite the fact that she would have liked to kill him herself, she knew she had to wait for Sesshomaru. He would have felt her power flare and come running. Right on schedule he burst into the room.

"Kagome!" he cried as he threw the door open, the Dragon Lord and the Eagle Lord right behind him. She could see it in his eyes that he put together what had happened and allowed her power to calm as he strode across the room and, with a growl, wrapped his hand around the young eagle's throat. In the blink of an eye, he had the young heir half way up the wall.

"I hope that you have another son, Ozora!" he called back to the Eagle Lord, "This one's life belongs to me now!"

"Father!" Tsubasa cried, pumping his legs in an effort to find purchase, "Please, help me!"

"You were warned, boy," Ozora looked away, pain and grief flashing across his face. Through her anger, Kagome was able to see his face and swallowed around a lump in her throat. Tears burned behind her eyes when the Eagle Lord's voice broke as he turned his back to the scene, "You have broken ancient law. I can do no more for you."

"How do we know he touched her?" The Dragon Lord asked calmly, leaning against the doorframe. Both Sesshomaru and Kagome just glared at him and he lifted his hands in submission.

"Father!" Tsubasa cried again. Kagome felt her breath hitch when Ozora flinched and she could see that he was trying hard not to show his pain. It was hard to breathe suddenly. She knew what it was like to lose a child. She didn't think that she could be the cause of such heartbreak in another.

"My Lord, please wait!" Kagome set a hand to Sesshomaru's shoulder just as he was about to drive his claws into Tsubasa's heart, "Please, my Lord," she stood on her tiptoes so that she could speak lowly in his ear in a voice only they could hear. There were still rules to be obeyed, after all. Stupid as they were, she had to keep her opinions low to show that she still respected him as her Lord. She saw his eyes flash in appreciation to her before she leaned in closer, "He is young. He is brash. He is arrogant. Perhaps he deserves death, but . . . the Northern Lord . . . he . . . and his mate . . ."

"You have a gentle heart," he murmured, his voice little more than a growl, "I want to kill him. Ancient law demands it. My beast demands it. He struck you."

"He is disgraced, my Lord. He will never be a taiyokai now. Please . . . Look at his father."

Sesshomaru took a moment, considered, "If it is what you wish, my love," His voice took on a menacing, authoritative tone as he looked back at Tsubasa, "You have struck my intended mate. You deserve death. But, death does not only punish you. I will not have innocents hurt because of your crime. But, your life is mine, Tsubasa, make no mistake. You will leave now. You will never set foot on my lands again or your life is forfeit. As it is, you will never be a Lord. Do you understand?"

Tsubasa nodded, his eyes wide, and Sesshomaru drove his claws into the flesh of the young eagle's belly, "You are addressing a Lord!"

"Yes, Lord Sesshomaru!" Tsubasa screamed when Sesshomaru twisted his claws.

"Good. Get out of my sight. Ozora, if you wish to leave the Gathering for the year no one will think less of you." Sesshomaru dropped the boy and looked down dispassionately when he lay moaning on the ground.

Kagome kept her eyes appropriately lowered when Ozora approached to help his son up. He stopped just in front of her, "I apologize for my son, Lady of the West," he said quietly, "And I thank you for his life. We did our best with him, but it never reached him. Despite it all, it would have broken his mother to lose him, so I thank you for my mate, as well. I know you could have killed him yourself. The tales of your power and compassion are not exaggerated."

"Remove your son, now, Ozora, before I am forced to rethink my decision to let him live." Sesshomaru growled menacingly as he moved away from Tsubasa to Kagome's side and lifted her face with two of his fingers to examine the bruise that was blossoming on her cheek.

Kagome could only see one thing as Ozora helped his son to his feet and they made their way slowly toward the door. That one thing was Sesshomaru. Once he was satisfied with his examination, he caught her gaze and did not look away from her eyes as the Lord of the North almost dragged his son out of the room. The Dragon could see what was on their minds as they both stood, chests heaving with emotion, and closed the door as soon as Tsubasa and Ozora were through. There was nearly a minute of silence before Kagome trusted herself enough to speak around the emotion in her throat.

"You called me your intended mate," she murmured quietly.

"And so you are," Sesshomaru's voice was just as quiet.

"You called me your love."

Sesshomaru's voice hitched when he answered, "And so you are."

In less than a second they were in each other's arms, mouths melding and straining. Kagome buried her hands in Sesshomaru's long white hair as he picked her up from the ground in his enthusiasm.

"Take me," she almost sobbed in relief and love when they pulled apart and he looked into her eyes, "Make me yours forever."

"Yes," Sesshomaru growled, letting loose his grip on his beast to feel the passion without restrain, "Yes." He laid her down on the floor, not bothering with a futon, and sliced her thin robe open with his claws. Even in the state where his beast was mostly in control he realized that while she might be willing, she was not ready for him to enter her body. He made a sound of gratification when she nearly came off the floor as he travelled down her body and began lapping at her with the flat of his tongue. She grabbed his hair in her hands and pulled roughly, knowing no matter how hard it would never bother him and in this state he could very well enjoy it. He growled from deep in his throat to let her know that he was pleased with her boldness. The vibration from his voice pulled her over the edge, surprising her with the swiftness with which it had come, and she came with a scream.

Too quickly for thought she was turned over, pulled up to her hands and knees. So, this was how a dog mated. She smirked in satisfaction and anticipation as he growled in frustration when he couldn't get his formal robes off in his haste to join with her.

"My Lord," she purred from deep in her throat, needing him, and what she knew was to come, more that she thought possible, "Let me help you." She couldn't help the giggle that escaped her throat when she realized that in her haste to be with him, she couldn't seem to keep her hands steady enough to remove his robes either. Sesshomaru's growl had a teasing tone to it when she giggled. He pulled her to him and they battled once more with their tongues. In a burst of concentration she couldn't place the origin of she untied his robes as they continued to war for dominance. When he was finally free he kissed her once more and turned her around. She made a small mewling sound from the back of her throat when he put his hand to her back, having her bend over so that she was on her hands and knees again. His hands travelled down her body and she couldn't help the moan that came when his hands brushed her nipples on his way down.

"Sesshomaru," she maoned, pushing herself back toward him as he knelt behind her, "Please."

"As you wish, my love." He didn't even try to stop the possessive howl that came from deep in his chest as he entered her. His beast knew that they were finally claiming the mate that they had been yearning for and for once both parts of Sesshomaru were in accordance. He pumped into her, knowing neither of them would last long, too many emotions were running through them. She was sobbing with them as he curled himself around her, nuzzling the juncture between her neck and her shoulder where he intended to mark her. He felt her quick intake of breath as she climaxed, too overcome to scream, and bit down until he tasted the sweet, coppery flavor of her blood in his mouth. The flavor, and the fact that he had finally taken her as his own, was too much to bear and he came with a grunt.

Suddenly exhausted, he rolled to the side, cradling her in his arms as she turned around in his embrace to look him in the eyes. She smiled softly and placed a kiss to the juncture mirroring the one he had just marked on her body. He nodded at the question in her eyes and couldn't breathe, the trance was so great as she bit down hard enough to draw his blood into her mouth. After she had swallowed, he couldn't help but laugh when she began to lap at the small wound, intending to soothe it. When she had finally pulled back, he treated her to the same, soothing the mark he had made with his saliva. He watched it fade from an angry red to a calm almost silver sheen. He knew by evening his would look the same and no person or demon alive would ever mistake what they were to each other again.

"Sleep, love," he murmured, "Tonight at the formal dinner I introduce you to the Gathering as my mate."

"Hmm," she made a sound of ascent from the back of her throat, "Good. Sesshomaru, what happens to the other concubines now?"

"Usually they would be kept on in case I required them."

"And if you require them I'll purify you on principle," she was nearly asleep, but giggled a little when he chuckled, "But, I don't want to throw them out either. Most of them know no other life. They're my friends, my sisters. I couldn't abandon them like that."

"They will serve in a new capacity," he murmured into her hair, "A Lady needs companions."

"You mean like ladies in waiting?"

"Yes."

"It's perfect. Thank you." He felt it as she fell asleep and held her closer. She was his mate. The fact pleased him more than he would ever be able to express. He placed one final kiss to her forehead and allowed himself to slip into a light, easy sleep. When he awoke was soon enough to deal with the tedium and annoyance of the rest of the Gathering. For the moment he was content and that was all that mattered.


	18. Chapter 18

All previous disclaimers apply.

Author's Note: Sorry about the delay, all. Thank you for sticking with this. TH

"What's this here?" Kaida smiled and laughed along with the other concubines as she pushed her hair away from her eyes as they all bathed. Ladies, she reminded herself inwardly. They were no longer concubines. Sesshomaru had mated their beautiful little sister last evening and he would no longer require them. Most lords kept on their concubines even after mating, for most matings were for convenience and namesake only. But, the mating between Kagome and their lord was one of love and passion, they all knew. While they had been happy for Kagome after the announcement was made, they had all been worried as well. Where would they go now? What would they do? Most of them had been in the castle for over a hundred years. They no longer had any other marketable skills beside what they were trained to be. None of them had slept last night. They had stayed together in their gathering chamber, no one saying much, but bracing themselves for when they would have to say goodbye to all they knew and loved.

They had all been surprised and more grateful than they could say when, just after the morning meal, Kagome had gathered them all and told them, her face bright with a smile, that if they so chose they would be allowed to stay in the castle. Sesshomaru would no longer require them in his bed, not that he had for months, but if they wanted it, she wanted them to be her ladies. They were highly trained, knew much more etiquette than she could imagine, and they were her friends. She would not see them put out. And, if they were gone, she would miss them. So, she had taken Etsu and Akina, the two who had worried the most and on whose faces it showed heavily, in her arms and asked them to stay. It wasn't long before all of them were laughing and crying together, arms around each other. With the tension of an uncertain future gone, they all felt free to drag Kagome into the bathing room when they went and demand the entire story from her. It was where they were still, simply relaxing.

"Hmm, what?" Kagome looked over at Kaida.

"You went far away again," Hiroko laughed, "And you're rubbing your mark again. I promise it will not fade, little love."

Kagome blushed prettily and lowered her hand, "I know it won't. I just . . ."

"My lady?" Paru called through the door to the bathing room.

"Yes, Paru?"

"Lord Sesshomaru would like you to come to the receiving room right away please."

She could hear the apprehension in his voice and felt a twinge of fear shoot up her back, "Is there something wrong, Paru?"

"No, Lady, I do not believe so. He told me to tell you not to bother putting on formal clothing."

"Please tell him I'll be there shortly."

She calmed a little. Surely if it was something serious that he needed to discuss with her outside of their bedroom he would have told her to look formal. Perhaps he was going to allow her to speak to Kouga! She got out of the water quickly. She had not seen the wolf at the formal dinner last evening when she had been hoping to speak to him. Sesshomaru knew that they were well acquainted with each other and that he had seen her in much less than a casual kimono. And they were mates now. There was no reason at all for Sesshomaru to feel threatened by Kouga so there was no reason to keep her distanced from him. Her heart jumped into her throat at the idea that the wolf prince might have some news as to what had happened to her son and to her friends.

"Please," Kagome looked over at Akina, "Help me into my clothing. I have to go now."

Sensing her hurry, the others gathered around her, helping her to put herself together. Years of dressing and undressing themselves quickly aided in getting her fully dressed and looking appropriate in a matter of just under a couple of minutes.

"Thank you!" She called as she slipped out the door and began running down the hall. She didn't care what she looked like or whether those for the Gathering considered her unrefined and common to be running so. The idea that she might find out something about her son overruled any desire she had to act proper and foster a good image. As she drew closer to the receiving room she sensed Sesshomaru's aura, calm and cool, and Kouga's aura, apprehensive and a little nervous. But, there was one more. She stopped dead in her tracks as the warm aura of flickering reds and oranges washed over her. Flickering like a fire. Beautiful and untamable. The aura was sad. So sad. So unbelieving. But, it was him.

As suddenly as she stopped she ran again, this time faster, tripping over her kimono because she was trying to move in ways faster than the restrictive clothing would allow, all to get to him.

"Shippou!" She cried as she threw the door open.

For a moment her beautiful orange haired boy just looked back at her as if she wasn't real. He looked different, she noticed. He was taller, thinner. He had a look on his face like none she'd ever seen on him before. It was completely blank. Her heart almost broke as she thought about what must have happened to her baby to still his normally mobile face. She fell to her knees and opened her arms to him, not caring about the tears rolling down her cheeks. His eyes were the same, she could see. Somewhere inside the broken little boy was still her kit, whom she loved more than life. She sobbed when tears began to roll unheeded down his thin face.

"Baby," she whispered, "Please, come here. Please, let me hold you. I've missed you so much."

And the damn broke, "Ma . . ." he whispered, as if finding his voice again for the first time. Once he realized he could make noise, he did it was a vengeance, "Mama!" His cry could be heard through the castle, she thought. It was the most beautiful thing she'd ever heard.

She caught him in her arms as he threw himself at her. For a moment they simply clung, sobbing against each other. Then, she held him out and looked him over, running her hands over his face, his shoulders, his arms, as if making sure that he was real and before her. When she was satisfied she pulled him back into her arms and rocked. Both whispered nonsense, telling each other how much they loved the other, how much they had been missed. Eventually Kagome sensed Sesshomaru over her. She looked up at him and smiled.

"My love," she said quietly, standing with Shippou still in her arms, "This is my son."

Sesshomaru nodded, then allowed his hand to rest at the small of her back, showing her without words that he was pleased she was so happy. Shippou buried his face in the crook of her neck on the opposite side of Sesshomaru's mark and glanced up shyly at his mother's mate. Sesshomaru's expression did not change, but his words pleased both his mate and her son in a way they never expected.

"His aura is strong. He will be a fine son. I will take him as mine as soon as his strength is fully recovered."

"Good choice," Kouga smiled at the three.

"Kouga," Kagome turned to him for the first time since entering the room, "Thank you so much for bringing him back to me. Where did you find him?"

"It's a long story, Mama," Shippou whispered.

"We have time, baby," she whispered back, dropping a kiss to his head as she moved to one of the cushions in the middle of the room, "We have all the time in the world."

"No we don't, Mama!" Shippou's voice was suddenly hysterical and terrified, "We have to do something! Time's almost up!"


	19. Chapter 19

**All previous disclaimers apply.**

"How is he, my lady?" Miyuki asked quietly as the Lady of the Western Lands opened the door to the room that had been given to her young kitsune son for the first time in hours. She had been waiting there for what felt like hours all the while listening to her lady singing gentle lullabies to her child and comforting him with quiet words when he began to sob all over again. Miyuki could hear the pain in her voice every time she tried to comfort her young son and could see it now as she finally left the room. She had been crying, Miyuki notices, and could see the tears in her eyes still that she would not let fall in front of anyone but her children or her mate. Miyuki took her arm gently when she swayed a little before straightening herself. Her lady was exhausted, and more than a little heart-sick Miyuki could tell, as she closed the door quietly behind her and motioned for Miyuki to come with her further down the hall before she began speaking.

"He's finally sleeping," she answered when they were a little distanced from the room, "He's exhausted." A single tear slipped from her eye before being roughly brushed away. Kagome crossed her arms and gripped her elbows as if trying to keep herself together. All Miyuki wanted to do was take her in her arms and reassure the young woman that everything would be alright, even if it didn't seem like it at the moment. She couldn't imagine how heartbreaking it would be to see your child, whom you loved more than life, in such a terrified, traumatized state.

"You seem just as exhausted, my lady. Perhaps you should go lie down?"

"I can't," Kagome continued walking toward her mate's study and the war room of the Western lands, "There's no time."

She stopped at the ladies chamber and opened the door briefly, "Hoshiko?"

"Yes, love?"

"My son… he will have nightmares. Please, will you sit with him and come get me if he needs me?"

"Yes, of course," Hoshiko briefly set a hand to her cheek before moving down the hall toward the young kit's room. It made Kagome breathe a little easier knowing that someone would be there when Shippou awoke with nightmares. It broke her heart that she knew the nightmares would come.

Miyuki followed close at her elbow as she continued down the hall, a single mindedness in the way she moved that spoke of great anger unlike anything that had been seen from their gentle, kind lady yet. She was proud, really, of the way Kagome was handling herself. Heavens forbid, but if anything were to ever happen to Lord Sesshomaru, the Western lands would survive. They had a strong, warrior Lady whose temper was rivaled only by her ability to love and her compassion. Miyuki marveled at 

the way she had become Kagome's general without the Lady ever asking her to. Kagome commanded that loyalty and Miyuki knew the people would give it to her. This union was the best thing that Sesshomaru had ever done, she decided as Kagome opened the door to her mate's studty without announcement and went to sit next to him, deep in conversation with Kouga, the Dragon Lord, and all of their respective generals. She tried for a smile when Sesshomaru held up his hand to halt the conversation for a moment and turned to her.

"How fares the kit?" he asked quietly, so low only she could hear.

"He sleeps," she answered, just as low, "He is fevered. Nightmares will come." He took her hand and rubbed his thumb over the back of it soothingly when her voice broke.

"Is he close enough to reach when they do?"

"He is. And Hoshiko waits by his bedside. She will come get me if need be."

"And Rin?"

"She worries for him. She is in the kitchens making him a soup for when he awakens and is ready to eat. She's appointed herself his sister."

"That is good," Sesshomaru rubbed a claw down her face and she was just exhausted and heart-sick enough to lean into the brief touch, even in front of the other lords and their generals, "It would please me, mate, if you would go to our chambers and rest."

"You'll have to be displeased, my Lord mate," her voice was sweet even as her words were strong, "The bastard nearly killed my son. I will have my revenge."

Sesshomaru was pleased with her reaction and showed it by rubbing the back of her hand again before resting his hand over the gentle swell of her belly where, even now, their pups grew, "The pups require rest and food, my Lady love."

"I will eat," she conceded before turning to a servant and requesting a tray to be brought up.

He nodded, pleased, and turned back to the conversation, "My mate's son has been nearly killed. The Foul One threatens all of our lands once again. It was foolish of us to think that he was no longer a threat because he has not moved in recent months."

"I still do not understand exactly whom this 'Foul One' is," The Dragon Lord said quietly, "My lands have not been threatened."

"The Foul One," Kagome hissed, "His name is Naraku. He is an unnatural hanyou created from jealousy and greed over the wanting of a woman who could never be his. He steals the power and life force of humans and demons alike to keep himself alive and powerful. He may not have threatened your lands yet, Dragon, but I guarantee that if the West and the South fall the rest of the lands will stand no chance. It is only through allegiance that we can keep all of our lands safe."

"It would require all of us?" The Dragon asked, "All of our armies?"

"Yes," Kouga muttered, to the surprise of the rest gathered in the room. He shrugged, "This is no time for foolish pride. He is powerful beyond measure due to unnatural and black magics that none of us can even imagine. He can control people, bring them back to life after he's killed them. The demon slayer village was decimated due to his influence. A great many from my tribe as well. He has influential ways and allies in all that are dark."

"Where does your son come in to all of this, Lady Kagome?" There was only curiosity in the Dragon's voice and so Kagome just sighed and closed her eyes before relating all that Shippou had told her in between sobs and tears.

"He was not to be involved at the start," She kept her voice low for fear of losing control of her emotions. It would not due to be a wreck in this meeting, "Naraku stole my traveling companions, and my kit, away in the night, leaving no trace of them. His aim was to make me question my own sanity as his influence stretched far enough to alter memories of those we had once met. He wanted me insane with grief. When I was unfit to defend myself he would have come to take me as well."

"Beg pardon, My Lady," one of the Dragon's generals interrupted, "But, why are you so important?"

"I am the bearer of the Shikon Jewel," Kagome pulled the small bottle of shards she kept around her neck out and watched as the demons around the low table gasped and leaned in closer for a better look, "It was broken through my folly and I have been working with companions to complete it again. Naraku has most of it, but my power had grown considerably and he knew that there was no way he could take the rest of it from me to complete the jewel without my sanity being less than stable. He intended to have me insane and then take the rest of the jewel. Once it was complete he would have had me purify it so that he could have his wish. Had my lord not found me in the night his plan would have succeeded."

"Why has he not come for it since that time?"

"I am sane, am I not?" Kagome questioned, "He knows that unless I am not so I would die before I gave over the jewel and willingly purified it."

"What did the kit mean when he said there was no time?" Sesshomaru asked.

"Naraku grows impatient waiting" Kagome's voice became a growl, "He gave my son an ultimatum. Deliver me and the jewel or he would kill Inuyasha, Miroku, and Sango. He forced Shippou to watch as he tortured each of them to within an inch of their lives. Then, he did the same to my son and released him into the world. He will pay for his crimes, but he will hurt most for that act."

"He will," Sesshomaru agreed.

"I still do not understand why this task requires all of our forces if he dares not even attack Nishi," The Dragon leaned back and crossed his arms.

"He doesn't attack Nishi because it would be difficult," Kagome murmured, "And he enjoys torture of any kind, which was what he was putting me through just as he was doing the same to my companions."

"And we need all because this time he has something that he's never had before." Sesshomaru looked down.

"What is that?"

"A demon slayer with more skill than most demons, a monk with a wind tunnel in his hand that can pull in anything, and a hanyou will skill to match my own. Beside being powerful in his own right the Foul One will have taken their wills by now."

"You can't mean…" Kouga trailed off.

When Sesshomaru looked back up his face was grim, "Yes. We will be fighting Inuyasha as well."

**Author's Note: I probably do not need to say this, but just to cover all my bases, this does not follow anything beyond the first few episodes and a couple of the movies, that Naraku can do. I making it up as I go, so please don't expect it to match with the anime or the manga. Thank you so much for sticking with this!**


	20. Chapter 20

**All previous disclaimers apply.**

**Author's Note: Just to make it clear, I never saw or read all of the Inuyasha series, so from here on out, it might be a little AU when it comes to Naraku and how he is to die. Just so no one is really shocked. Thank you so much to everyone who has stuck with this story for so long! It's almost done and I'm not sure how I feel about it yet! But, anyway, on with the story.**

It was so deceptively calm out here. Kagome couldn't help the shiver that went through her body as she looked across the moon-lit lake and wrapped her arms around herself. It was all so deceptive. The calm before the storm. Had it really only been three days ago that she had been so happy in her new mating with Sesshomaru? Three days ago none of this had even been a thought in her head. The only thing she had been able to see in her future was her life with Sesshomaru, their mating celebration, the birth of their pups, watching them grow into young children. She hadn't even thought she would be facing Naraku for a year, perhaps two, not until the pups still in her womb were old enough to live without her should something happen. But, here she found herself, on the edge of a lake, her feet in the water, and the entirety of the Army of the West camped behind her. They had been marching toward Naraku's stronghold all day and had only made camp as the sun was setting, but she was amazed at how ordered it was, how quickly the tents had gone up and the troops settled in.

If she closed her eyes and left her mind to drift just a little she could almost imagine that she had come away with Sesshomaru and her children on a little trip just for the family, to relax, to get away, and to spend time together. But, then, as always, False would let out a little trill of annoyance as yet another sound he was not used to rang through the campsite. She breathed in on a deep sigh and stroked his crest gently, trying to calm the firebird Sesshomaru had given her what felt like an eternity ago. He crooned gently in her ear and tucked his head under chin. She was more grateful than she could say to the bird, which had helped Hiroko entertain her children all through the long march today so that they would not make themselves annoyances to their lord or any of the generals, who were still planning as they marched. Sesshomaru had been surprised at the bird's intelligence, but Kagome had not. She had always seen it in his eyes from the moment she had awoken to find False in her room.

She sighed again and held out her wrist so that False could step onto it and she could launch him into the air. She followed his progress, marked in the dark by the false sparks that came from him, as he flew back to the central tent where Hiroko and the children already slept deeply. Had there been any other way she would not have chosen to bring any of them along as they marched toward war. But, there had been no other way. With herself, Sesshomaru, Miyuki, and Paru out of the capital city there was none she trusted there to keep the children safe. No, Naraku would not attack the city straight out, but none of them would put it past him to send individuals in and take the children by force to torture them in front of Kagome and Sesshomaru in hopes that it would make their concentration and skills falter. They had brought Hiroko along 

to look after them because her mate was in the army and she would have found a way to come along anyway. This way kept her out of danger. The other ladies had been left at the castle, crying and holding each other as the army, their lord, and their lady left the castle and the city, perhaps for good. But, that was not something she wanted to think about.

If she started to doubt herself, even in the slightest, Naraku would sense it and he would use it. No, she would not doubt and she would not falter. For the sake of the pups within her womb, for the sake of her children, her friends, and her mate she would be strong and the most terrible enemy the vile hanyou had ever seen. She felt the anger rise within her, bringing her power to the immediate surface, and used it. With a violent, feral scream she reached her hands up to the sky and released the excess energy in a streak of blue flame light that stretched across the camp, banishing all shadows and forcing all who looked upon it to shield their eyes. As the light died she brought her hands back to her sides and looked out across the water once more, the picture of serenity aside from her heaving chest. She had not exerted herself in any way, but the force of her emotions, those she had not expressed, had her fighting for control once more.

It wasn't right that her sweet, innocent boy had been tortured. It wasn't right that her friends, who had only ever fought on the side of the angels, were now mind slaves to the most vile creature in the history of the world. It wasn't right that Naraku had tried to break her by taking all of them away, no matter what happiness had come from it. It wasn't right that her lord, her love, the father of her pups, might never return to the beautiful capital because Naraku wanted something from her. Everything that was happening now, it was all her fault. She wanted to fall to her knees and sob, but she could not. She would not. Not here. Not now. She didn't even reach up a hand to brush them away when the hot, angry tears began to streak down her face. She would allow herself that much at least.

"My Lady," As suddenly as she knew he would be, Sesshomaru was before her, blocking the sight of the moon on the lake with his body. He leaned over in the slightest and began to rub her tears away with the pads of his thumbs, "What causes this distress?"

"This is my fault," she whispered.

"What is?" He asked gently as he folded her into a steady embrace and she wrapped her small hands around the unforgiving material of his armor where it curved over his shoulders.

"All of it," He was surprised to hear the bitterness in his mate's voice where he had never heard it before, "If I had never come here, the jewel would never have been broken, Naraku wouldn't have reawakened, he wouldn't have taken the others, you wouldn't be going to war now. All of it is my fault for being stupid enough to fall into that damn well when Mistress Centipede grabbed for me."

Her words confused him greatly, he didn't understand what it was she was talking about except for the fact that she blamed herself for everything that had happened, everything that was going to happen. She would take the responsibility for every life lost in the coming battle onto her own heart. He beast growled at him, demanding that he find a way to soothe her. His mate was not to feel such guilt, not when she was so strong, so beautiful. It wasn't right.

"Even of the jewel had not been shattered," Sesshomaru whispered in her ear before swooping her up in his arms and carrying her toward the forest that bordered the lake, "The foul hanyou would have found a way to threaten all of us in time. We, the Taiyokai, are fortunate that it has come now when we have you to fight alongside us, my mate." They were out of sight of the camp and he set her again on her feet, turning her around so that her back was to him. She gasped when one of his clawed hands reached over her shoulder and under her light leather armor to cup and fondle her breast even as his mouth went to the silver mark on her neck.

"Sesshomaru…" she mumbled, dropping her head back onto his shoulder as his other hand moved toward her core, rapidly heating and moistening. She gasped in surprise and arousal when his teeth bit down on her, not hard enough to break the skin, but hard enough to have her arching and allowing his hand to press deeper against her center through the fabric.

"You will believe me, mate," he ordered arrogantly, "You will no longer blame yourself."

"Sesshomaru," she moaned now in need as he pulled her skirt up and slipped his fingers inside of her, "Oh... please."

"You will follow my order, Miko," he felt himself losing control as she pressed back against him, wanting more friction from the fingers he had inside of her. Even as he said it, he pulled the hand on her breast back to free himself from his restrictive garments.

"As you wish," she gasped, "Whatever you want. Please, Sesshomaru… I want you inside me. Now!"

He could not disobey her order. He spun her around quickly and slammed her against a tree. He worried for a moment that he had hurt her until she looked up at him expectantly and reached down to wrap one talented hand around him and lead him into her. He growled even as she gasped and threw back her head as they became one. With one hand he braced himself against the tree. The other he placed firmly on her thigh to keep her leg up and wrapped around his waist. With every thrust he went deeper and deeper into her body, losing himself completely as he buried his face in her fragrant hair and listened as she panted and begged for him so beautifully.

"Mmm…oh, yes….there! Right there! Harder, Sesshomaru, deeper! Please! More! Oh!"

Her clever little mouth found where she had marked him and began to suckle and nip, unaware of the frenzy it put him in as he pulled away from the tree and pulled her other leg up around his waist before he fell to his knees and let her fall against the soft ground. He rutted against her, his thrusts short and deep as she screamed out his name again and again and tightened her fists in his hair, pulling as hard as she could as he pulled down her armor and undershirt just far enough to allow himself to attach his mouth to her nipple and bite down. He could feel her tightening around him, almost at orgasm and thrust faster, racing her to the end.

"Sesshomaru!" She screamed a final time just as he let out a growl he was sure the entire camp heard and released himself inside her and his vision went white around the edges.

"Hmm. Stay," Kagome murmured when he tried to roll off of her, "Just for a little while. It feels so good just like this."

"As long as you wish," he chuckled, propped himself up on his elbows and pushed her damp hair out of her eyes, "I meant it when I ordered you not to blame yourself, mate."

"I meant it when I told you it would be as you wished," Kagome smiled back up at him, "It is my fault, Sesshomaru, I accept that. But, I will not let the guilt cripple me. I will do something about it." Her voice had ended like steel and he found himself smiling and kissing her again. She wrapped her arms around him and returned the kiss whole-heartedly.

"I love you very much, my Lord," she sighed.

"And I you, my mate."

"We'd better get back to the children," Kagome smiled when Sesshomaru got up and helped her to her feet. They began adjusting their clothing and brushing things out of each other's hair until they looked presentable again.

"Have a care for the pups, my love," Sesshomaru set a hand over where their pups grew. Kagome covered the hand with her own.

"They are my first priority, my lord mate. Shall we go find them something to eat?"

"There are two. A male and a female," Sesshomaru murmured in her ear.

The tears filled her eyes even as she smiled, "Thank you for telling me. Sesshomaru, I will fight. I cannot change that now, but I swear to you, I will do all in my power to make sure that they are kept completely safe."

"I know," And Sesshomaru smiled, "It will be Naraku's mistake that he underestimates the willpower and vengeance of a mother."

"Yes," And she knew her smile was just as feral, just as wicked, "It will be."


	21. Chapter 21

**All previous disclaimers apply.**

**Author's Note: Very short chapter. Battle coming very soon! Review if you have a moment, please! ******

The camp had grown to four times it's original size, Kagome noted dispassionately as she walked with Rin and Shippou to try to tire them out a little before bed so that they might actually get some sleep despite the fact that the adults most likely would not. As they had marched, they had expected the Dragon's army to join them, as well as the combined armies of the wolves. Kouga had finally taken complete responsibility and leadership in his realm. He was finally ready and she had never been prouder of him than when he had joined them, running at the head of an army as large as that of the West, looking so very adult and so very handsome. She was also glad to have another lady companion as Ayame joined her and Hiroko telling stories to the children around a campfire the night the wolves had arrived. Ayame, too, had grown. She had matured into a beautiful young woman who no longer felt as if she had to be brash to get her way. Her leadership skills and tactical knowledge got her everything she wanted within the army anyway. Including, it seemed, Kouga. Kagome had had to hide her smile behind her hand for the rest of the day after seeing the tender way Kouga pushed Ayame's hair from her face when they stopped the armies for a noon meal. The sweet way Ayame smiled left Kagome with no doubt that soon enough Kouga and Ayame would be mated. If they all lived that long.

Of course, there was more cause for hope now, Kagome mused, as she and the children passed by a small encampment of eagles mixed in with the encampments of dogs, wolves, and dragons. The Eagle lord of the North had silently joined the procession of lords just two days earlier. The three other lords had given their consent and thanks to him by simply nodding. Kagome had been very proud of Sesshomaru as he had even nodded soberly to Tsubasa, who had joined his father's army as a lowly foot soldier. They were no longer on Sesshomaru's land and he had more honor than to attack Tsubasa, but the fact that he had acknowledged him at all had made her want to throw her arms around his neck and thank him. Tsubasa himself seemed much better. He bared his load without complaining, he did work without being asked. He didn't speak much anymore, but Kagome had not expected he would. The night the army of the North had joined them he had approached her, while she was with Sesshomaru, on his knees. He quietly apologized for all he had ever said to her and humbly begged her pardon. Kagome had smiled and kissed him on the head. She didn't expect that she would ever speak to him again, but she truly hoped that he made it through the battle alive. Now that he had been brought down he could build himself up into a great yokai.

"My lady, little mistress, young lord," a soldier of the West smiled and half-bowed as she passed with the children. Rin was getting much better at being in the crowds. The walks they had taken every night through the camp had taught her not to be nervous around the soldiers. If she could be comfortable around all of these burly men, then surely, when they got home, she could be comfortable around the people of court and the capital city. Still, as happy as she was that Rin was doing well, her heart was made heavy again every time she looked at Shippou. He had regained the weight that had seemed to fall off of his small body before he found Kagome again. He was talking more now, even laughing and smiling often, but there was still a hollowness in his eyes that no joy could reach and she feared for him for reasons she could not even understand herself. He was still a little weak physically and was, at the moment, half asleep on Kagome's shoulder as they finished the last leg of their walk and made their way back to the tent.

"I love you, Mama," Rin whispered as Kagome tucked a light fur more securely around her and kissed her forehead gently.

"I love you, too, little girl." Kagome tried to keep the tears out of her eyes as she watched her girl fall asleep quickly. If she had anything to say about it tonight would not be the last night that she saw her children, but one could never bet against fate. Fate had a tendency to turn on those who did so. Instead she was content telling herself that she would see her children again and making sure that they believed it, too. She expected Shippou to be asleep when she turned to make sure that he was properly tucked in, but his bright eyes were looking up at her, tears pouring over.

"Baby!" Kagome drew him into her arms once more and tucked his head under her chin, "What is it, baby?"

"You're going to fight him tomorrow, Mama?"

"Yes, baby, we are."

"But, if Inuyasha… and Miroku…Sango and Kirara… I don't want to lose my mama again!" Kagome didn't bother to hide her tears from Shippou as he began to sob and held him out by his shoulders so that she could look into his eyes.

"Listen to me, baby. Tomorrow will be dangerous for everyone fighting, but Inuyasha, Miroku, and Sango are only three. We have thousands. Thousands of demons all here to fight Naraku. We're going to win, baby, and then you, me, Rin, Lord Sesshomaru, and all of our friends are going to go home and be safe and happy for the rest of our lives. But, in order for that to happen, tomorrow has to happen. To make all of us safe we have to risk the danger."

"Mama!" Shippou wailed and threw himself back in her arms, "I don't want you to go!"

"I know, baby, I know," Kagome sniffled into his hair, "I love you so much, baby, I have to go. You be a good boy. Be good for Hiroko. Her mate is going to fight. She'll need you to help her. Be a good boy and know just how much your mama loves you." She rocked him quietly until he had fallen asleep in her arms, exhausted from his crying. By the time she had him comfortably settled she was ready to join the lords and their generals in the tactical tent.

Sesshomaru only momentarily glanced at her, giving her a worried look, when she entered the tent and took her place at his side. She knew they would have talk on it later, but right now he needed to keep his mind on battle plans and she needed to get her mind on them. She was surprised that he went as far as to pull her into his lap as soon as she sat down. His eyes staid on the plans that the general of the North explained to them, but one hand began to methodically rub her belly, just beginning to show signs of her pregnancy.

"As soon as the advance team of eagles and dragons have cleared the miasma the front lines will go in. We expect this to be sometime in the early morning, before the sun. The front lines have been well rested and well prepared. From the information we have been given by the Lady of the West," he nodded to Kagome here and she nodded back in recognition, "We should expect thousands if not tens of thousands of low class demons. At this point, the danger is overwhelming numbers, not insufficient training on the part of our armies. When we get to the more highly trained of the Hanyou's forces we will have to depend upon the generals and the superior training of the lords themselves," he nodded again, this time to all of the lords in general, "At this point and past it I am afraid that all of our forces will be useless. We will have to depend on only the well trained and the lords. It is all we can do."

"The advance team…" Kagome looked down at the map, where infirmaries and resting areas were to be set up should the battle last longer than a day and the wounded need longer term care, "They will be taken care of? I'm sure they'll be exhausted. The miasma will not be easy to break through. Unless he wants us to break through sooner rather than later," she added, under her breath so that only Sesshomaru could hear. His grip on her tightened slightly.

"Yes, My Lady," the general nodded, "It has all been arranged."

As if Kagome had spoken a premonition, a young dragon stumbled exhaustedly into the command tent, "Forgive me, My Lords, My Lady… the advance team is about to break through the miasma."

Ozora, Kouga, the Dragon, Kagome and Sesshomaru all stood.

"And so it begins."


	22. Chapter 22

**All previous disclaimers apply.**

**Author's Note: This is where things get a little AU. Please forgive. Warnings: Not for Kikyo or Kagura lovers. Neither will be good or even redeemable in this story. Sorry to those who like them. **

**I also know a lot of this chapter will be very unpopular. Please, remember the story isn't over yet and suspend your judgment for the end of the story!**

**As always, if you feel the need to flame, please be civil about it and refrain from foul language. Thanks so much!**

The battle had been raging for three long days. For three long days and nights all of the Lords and Ladies had been sleeping and eating in shifts unless they were in the command tent, which they seemed to be most of the time. They were all restless and given to anger with each other because, even though they had decided just after the front lines had gone in that they would all have to wait until the lower class demons were taken care of and Naraku was sending out well-trained demons, all of them wanted to be on the battlefield, helping their men and women fighting. While it was true that the losses that the combined armies had suffered were minimal, even with the sheer numbers they were facing, every death of a soldier cut into the lords very personally. Kouga especially was taking the deaths of any of the wolves, whom he had just begun to really lead, extremely personally, sitting at their pyres until the smoke had cleared, allowing the tears to roll down his cheeks unheeded. They were all grateful for Ayame, who seemed to keep him grounded and prevented him more than once from running into the fray. They were not stupid. They understood completely that they would need every man and woman they could get when it came to the final battle.

It hadn't helped the wolf's metal state any that one of the biggest arguments of the strategy sessions centered around him. Both Sesshomaru and the Dragon believed that Kouga should give up the jewel shards in his legs so that when Kagome was able to get the jewel from Naraku she would be able to complete it right away and give them all one less thing to worry about. Kouga and the Eagle believed that Kouga should keep them until absolutely the last moment in case, for any reason, Kagome was unable to purify the jewel. Naraku could never have the completed jewel. They had all turned to Kagome to cast the deciding vote on what was to happen. It had caused tension that had never existed before between Kagome and Sesshomaru when she had sided with Kouga and the Eagle. Her logic was good, she knew. Kouga was not used to fighting without the jewel shards. He might become more of a hindrance than a help if they took them away before the battle. He had glared at her after that comment but she had just looked coolly back and raised an eyebrow.

"And you must understand, if you die and Naraku gets your shards, Kouga, we will not be singing your glories even of we win. You will be known as a hindrance for the rest of time." 

She knew that Sesshomaru had forgiven her for going against him with the last comment because he had smiled sharply at her and placed a kiss to her forehead, causing Kouga to growl at them both.

"Growl at my mate again," Sesshomaru had stepped in front of Kagome, tensed for a fight. Both Kagome and Ayame had rolled their eyes before Ayame had stepped between the two lords and pushed on both of their chests with her petite hands.

"Save it for the hanyou," she ordered sternly.

It had been good advice as they now found themselves standing atop the ridge that overlooked the dark castle. Between them and the castle was the battlefield, littered with the bodies of those in Naraku's army who had fallen. He had not bothered to have their bodies cleared, as those from their army had. What would Naraku care if they got proper burial or not? What would most of them had cared? Kagome allowed the anger to overtake her as she thought of all the wasted life that had occurred since Naraku had created himself. He deserved more than death. He deserved to rot in the lowest level of Hell for all eternity. If she were able to make sure it was so, she would have dragged him there herself before returning to her family. The thought caught her off guard and she almost put a hand to her mouth in shock. She sounded like Kikyo.

Once again her thoughts seemed to be self-fulfilling as Naraku's generals, she guessed they could be called, stepped out of the castle and lined up much as they were lined up on top of the ridge. They were led by Kikyo, who smiled smugly at Kagome as Inuyasha, somehow feral and tame at the same time, came up behind her and wrapped her in his arms before grinning at Kagome, though it looked more like a growl. Kikyo at least had enough human left in her to look shocked when Kagome just smiled back and pulled the collar of his mail shirt aside just enough to let the silver of her mating mark show. She heard Sesshomaru growl lowly from the back of his throat in approval just before her heart leaped into her throat. Miroku, Sango and Kirara, and Kohaku joined Kikyo, Inuyasha, Kagura, Kanna, and a few others she didn't know the names of. They all looked very calm and put together. They looked dangerous. She felt the tears fill her eyes as she thought about the fact that she would soon be fighting her closest friends, but she did not allow them to fall.

"Surrender!" Kikyo called out, "Surrender and turn over the bitch who holds the jewel shards and you will be allowed to live as part of the Dark Lord's kingdom. If you do not, you and all of your armies will be killed. No quarter will be shown."

"We will not hand over the Lady of the West, nor will we surrender," the Dragon surprised them all with the heat in his voice when he called out.

"Lady of the West," Kikyo scoffed, "Very well, have it your way." She lifted her hand and the line broke, all heading to try to kill them.

Kagome pulled her bow and fitted an arrow, "Spare the slayers, the fire-cat, the monk and the hanyou if you can," she almost had to shout over the wind that had kicked up, "When the foul one is dead they will return to themselves."

"The wind-bitch is mine," the Dragon growled.

"Let me handle Inuyasha," Kouga muttered, making Sesshomaru turn to him with a growl, "I don't trust you to fight him and not kill him."

"You cannot defeat him, pup."

"Maybe not, but I can hold him off for a while."

"Watch for the monk's wind tunnel, the slayer's weapons and Inuyasha's sword. They have mastered them all," Kagome interrupted the argument as the enemies flew at them, ever closer. What were they thinking? The Lords had the high ground. It could be considered suicide. But, more importantly, where was Naraku? She scanned the black windows and doorways of the castle searching for any sign of him. The others would take care of his generals. Her priority had to be getting the jewel completed and purified so that it could no longer be used by Naraku or any like him. She looked up when she recognized False's cry and the firebird burst into full flame, sweeping in front of them so that a flame barrier almost nine feet high separated the Lords and Ladies from the advancing generals. Shouldn't things be happening much faster? Always before the battles had seemed to happen so quickly that she could hardly follow them.

Her senses had improved, living with yokai for so long, she realized, and she had awakened to the true potential of her power. The thought made her smile grimly. False landed on her shoulder as his demon fire burned too hot for the generals to cross and soared into the air when one tried to leap over it. Kanna's face was that of a spoiled child when she tried to cross and was burned, the hem of her kimono catching fire. Kagome stroked False's head, wordlessly assuring him that he had done well, then launched him off of her arm with whispered instructions to protect the children and Hiroko. If they failed, perhaps False could give them the time they would need to escape.

"Nice trick," Sango growled in a voice Kagome didn't recognize, "Here's one of mine!"

Kirara ran through the fire, banishing it, and leaped right for the Eagle's throat. It had begun. In moments the Lords were separated, each fighting their own battle. Kagome stood wordlessly, none of the fear that would have once been in her heart and head coming. Instead, she just waited, keeping her eyes forward as Kikyo walked toward her slowly as the battle noises began to rage around them.

"So…" Kikyo's voice was smooth and cool as they began to circle each other, "You seem to have landed on your feet. We wondered when Kanna could no longer see you in her mirror."

"We?" Kagome raised an eyebrow. She could feel Kikyo's power rising to the surface as she knew her own was.

"Naraku and I."

"I don't understand, Kikyo," Kagome had waited to ask her the question for a very long time, "Why? Why do you serve him?"

"Serve him?" Kikyo laughed, "You think I serve him? Ha. I serve no one but myself. I would rather see him ruling while Inuyasha is by my side, than see Inuyasha with you. Look at him. Isn't he magnificent this way?"

Kagome turned her head to watch Inuyasha's battle with Kouga. In an instant she knew that Kouga could not win. Inuyasha was magnificent. His speed, his every blade thrust, it was perfect. Even at his most controlled, his most trained, he had never been like this.

"Naraku's made him perfect," Kikyo whispered in Kagome's ear, "Just like he's made all of them perfect. Just like he's helped me to become perfect!"

It all seemed to happen in slow motion as Kagome turned to see Kikyo raising a dagger to plunge into her back. The dagger was lit with the fire of a Miko. It would take the rest of her soul and give it to Kikyo if she didn't stop it. She was amazed at the way she saw herself move as her own blue fire covered her body and she turned, grabbing Kikyo's wrist and yanking it downward. She could see the shock on Kikyo's face.

"Obviously not perfect enough, clay doll," She hissed. Kikyo broke away from her on a scream of fury, raising her hands above her head and gathering all of the power she had. Kagome just laughed. She could sense Kikyo's power, and she knew that she was the more powerful by a great amount. She could only cock her head in amusement.

"What are you laughing at, bitch?" Kikyo screamed.

"Surrender now or I will destroy you so completely there will be no more left of you to bring back," Kagome warned.

She couldn't even force herself to feel a twinge of regret for the bitter woman who would have rather seen her lover completely dehumanized or in Hell than with another woman. Kikyo would have stood by and done nothing, let Naraku rule in a violent and bloody era, as long as she had someone who Kagome knew wasn't actually the Inuyasha she herself had fallen in love with by her side. The hate, it was the only thing that kept her going at all. In a way, Kagome knew that she would be releasing Kikyo from all of the punishment she deserved, but in a way she was also releasing her from the hate. She felt no ill will toward the woman, not anymore, but she hoped she burned in Hell for all time. Even as Kikyo release all of the energy in her body, visualized in flame, Kagome raised a hand a released her own attack. The blue flames engulfed Kikyo's body, killing and purifying her instantly, not even giving her enough time to scream. In an instant she felt the final part of her soul returned to her, filling a hole she hadn't even realized was there.

In the next instant she cried out in shock and pain as she was thrown against a tree, a hand around her neck, squeezing tightly, as Inuyasha, feral and destructive growled and spit in her face. As he raised the Tetsusaiga she acted on instinct and grabbed the sheath from his waist, raising it above her head. It took all of her strength to keep it where it was as the sword crashed down on it. But, as it always had, the sword sheath reacted as protection to her, even from the sword itself. It would do no good, though, if she didn't get his hand off of her neck. Already her vision was blurring.

"Inu…yasha," She managed to force out. For a moment she saw a flicker of golden recognition in his blood red eyes and his hand loosened enough for her to take a gasping breath and wrap her free hand around the fingers on her neck, forcing them just the slightest bit farther away as she allowed her power to flare.

"Inuyasha, it's Kagome," she whispered, "See me. Please see me. Come back. Come back to me. Remember. The night Naraku took all of you. The night we made love for the first time. Come back to me. It's me. It's your Kagome."

"Ka…go…me…" Inuyasha ground out in his rough voice and she could see the struggle in his eyes.

"Yes. Yes, it's me," she whispered. She could see out of the corner of her eye that Sesshomaru was coming for her. She knew she needed him, but she didn't want Inuyasha hurt. She had to reach him! Inuyasha followed her eyes with his own. He glanced from Sesshomaru down to the silver scar on her neck and she knew that she had lost him once again to his fury as he clamped down on her neck and bared down on his sword, snarling at her once again.

"No!" she choked on the word and did the first thing that came into her mind. She leaned forward and pressed her lips to Inuyasha's. It had worked before.

It worked again. He dropped the sword, his hand flew from her neck, and he began to shake his head, trying to rid himself of the control Naraku had over him. Kagome fell to her knees, gasping, trying to regain her breath and not let herself fade from consciousness. She was in Sesshomaru's arms in an instant and she knew he was struggling with his own beast not to kill Inuyasha outright because it was not what she wanted. They watched, aware of every little move he made, as Inuyasha gripped his hair in tight fists and fell to his knees, screaming. When he looked up at them, she could see his eyes wavering between red and gold. They settled on gold, but she could see he was still struggling. It could never be over until Naraku was killed. She watched, tears rising in her throat and a sob stopping in her chest as Inuyasha looked over at Kouga, motionless on the ground, his eyes closed, and knew what he had done. There were tears running down his face as he looked back at them.

"Please, Sesshomaru," he begged between growls as he began to lose control again, "Do it before it takes over again. Do it, please! Don't let me hurt anyone else!"

Kagome couldn't even object as Sesshomaru put her back on her feet and moved to Inuyasha. It was what had to be done. They all knew it was so.

"I love you, Kagome," Inuyasha's tortured whisper cut into her soul.

"You will always be my first love," she responded truthfully.

Suddenly Sesshomaru was next to him, a hand on his shoulder, his other hand, claws extended, ready for a killing blow.

"Do it," Inuyasha half-ordered, half-begged.

"When this is over," Sesshomaru whispered right next to Inuyasha's ear, "I will revive you… brother." Inuyasha's eyes went completely red and savage again and he lunged to tear out Sesshomaru's throat just before Sesshomaru's clawed hand shoved directly through his chest and into his heart. Inuyasha let out a yelp unlike anything Kagome had ever heard him make and his eyes went golden. He gasped and nodded to Sesshomaru, then turned to Kagome, peace on his face, before he fell to his knees and then to the ground. Kagome couldn't stop the sob as she looked around her. Kouga on the ground, her friends fighting those who had become her friends. Even as she watched Kanna returned the arrow Miyuki had shot at her back into Miyuki's abdomen. The Eagle was on the ground, cradling the broken form of his son to his chest. Paru and two of the others dodged Miroku's wind tunnel, but they were tiring fast. Sango, Kirara, and Kohaku were carving a path of destruction in the soldiers who had come to the Lords' side to fight. Sesshomaru ducked quickly back into the battle as soon as he saw that she was safe. Would she have to see her mate die as well? She covered her ears and screamed out the frustration, anger, and sorrow.

Even as she screamed it was covered by a dark laugh. Her head whipped up and she saw Naraku, standing in the doorway to his castle, his arms crossed, a smile on his face. She got to her feet and ran quickly to Kouga. She only vaguely noticed that he was still breathing, but barely, as she quickly pulled the shards from hid shins. How could she hurt him anymore now?

"I'm sorry," she whispered, and kissed his head.

"Delightful," Naraku laughed, "Brother killing brother. Destruction. Death. All of it just for a few tiny things that you refuse to give me, Miko. Tell me, do you really think you can win?"

"Perhaps not," Kagome drew herself up to her full height, "Perhaps all we're doing is delaying the inevitable. But, one thing I do know, Naraku, if I have to die with you, one way or another you die today."

"Oh, yes? Well, then, Little Lady of the West, do your worst."


	23. Chapter 23

**All previous disclaimers apply.**

**Author's Note: Next chapter is the final showdown. This is a short filler. **

"You have killed without mercy. Turned brother against brother. Decimated whole villages. Do not think that you are going to live through this day, Naraku," Kagome's voice was cold and hard as she pulled an arrow from her quiver and fitted it to her bow, looking down at the abomination that simply smiled back up at her.

"So noble minded, Lady of the West?" He scoffed, stripping his heavy coat and shirt off until he was clad only in a pair of loose pants and an elaborately embroidered sash. Kagome felt the bile rising in her throat as she remembered Kikyo's words about perfection. How could it be that someone so evil could look so beautiful? He was perfection, she could not deny that. Not nearly as attractive to her as her lord mate, but she could not pretend that she did not see why others were attracted to what he was. Beauty and power was a hard combination to resist and he had both. She felt her heart ache for those who had been lost because they had not been able to see past the façade to the truth beneath it. With an abrupt pull on her mind she finally came to the realization that they would never be able to honor all those that Naraku had killed because they would never know just how many lives he had taken or how many had been taken because of his actions. And she couldn't bring herself to care about them as much as she thought she should. She would never care about them as much as she cared about those she loved.

"Noble minded," Kagome allowed a dark chuckle to escape, "Perhaps others might say so. Perhaps I am. But, understand this, Naraku. You will die for your crimes against the peoples of the lands. But, it will be a painful death for what you have done to me and mine. Even I am not above revenge."

"You are only human," Naraku drew closer and Kagome lifted her bow, drawing her arrow, touching the corner of her mouth with her knuckle as Kaede had taught her. She wondered briefly, how they looked, the evil beauty and the mated Miko, as they circled each other, each waiting for the other to make the first move, "It does make me wonder, Lady Miko, how did you manage to get the Western Lord to mate you? Does he not hate humans? How can he stand your stench, do you think?"

Kagome knew this was exactly the type of comment that would have made her attack brashly just months before, breaking her concentration and allowing her temper to take over. As she was now, she just looked back at him coolly, keeping her arrow in place and waiting for his move, "I am not as easily distracted as I once was, Hanyou."

"Clearly," Naraku laughed, "And I love the fire in your eyes. Perhaps I will let you live. If only so that when this is over I can break you. I will enjoy watching your eyes deaden as I ravage you again and again…and again."

Kagome twitched, almost letting the arrow fly in temper, but remained in control, noticing that they were getting closer and closer to each other as they circled. She wondered if Naraku knew the mistake he was making. He expected her to lose her cool, and she would not. The closer he got, the bigger her target got and the more damage she would be able to inflict right off. She did not delude herself into thinking that he would be killed with one arrow, or by herself alone even, but the faster she could inflict the maximum amount of damage, the better. If she could inflict enough damage, perhaps no one else would have to die. She just prayed, silently and fervently, that the part of the jewel within Naraku's body would not allow him to regenerate too quickly for them to finish him off. There was always the risk of such a thing happening. Even now she could see the faint glow of the nearly completed jewel deep in his chest and felt the shards in the small bottle around her neck calling out to the large piece, wanting to be whole again. No matter who won this battle the jewel would have to be completed. It would no longer allow itself to be shattered. She shuddered slightly at the thought of the thing that had been inside her at birth having its own will and wondered briefly, not for the first time, how much of what had happened had been due to the will of the jewel.

As if he sensed her momentary loss of concentration, Naraku let out a battle cry and flew toward her, narrowed red eyes burning. It was more a reaction of pure shock than it was intentional when Kagome released the arrow she had been holding for so long and it caught Naraku squarely in the chest, the holy fire surrounding it burning through the flesh like tissue paper. But, she was not a fool by any means, she knew that even that shot, perfect by most standards, would mean nothing more than the fact that Naraku would transform into one of the more disgusting incarnations of himself that they had seen before. She jumped back quickly, fitting another arrow, as the tentacles exploded from Naraku's body and covered more area than should have been physically possible. She hardly had time to gasp in surprise when a tentacle sliced into her arm before Sesshomaru had her swooped up in his arms and carried high in the air on a high jump away from Naraku momentarily.

"It's just a scratch," she assured him, as he set her on her feet.

"Yes," he agreed, "All of the Hanyou's generals have been incapacitated in some way. We wanted to consolidate our forces and attack him at once."

"Good plan," she whispered, and grabbed the front of his armor, dragging his mouth down to hers by force for a brief, intense kiss before they joined the others who were preparing themselves for a final showdown.

It was hard to see how few of them were left as she joined them. They looked like a rag tag group of low level yokai rather than the Taiyokai and generals they were. Ayame was favoring her right leg, but there was more than the regular fiery determination in her eyes. The Eagle looked like a man ready to meet his death. She wasn't surprised. She had seen him with Tsubasa motionless in his arms and wondered who it was responsible for killing the young eagle she herself had spared. The Dragon was looked like he was about to fall over on his feet. Paru looked more grim than she had ever seen his merry face, but otherwise unharmed. She turned to her mate and really looked at him, well are that it might be her last chance. Other than a cut on his cheek that had blood seeping down and onto his clothing he looked the most put together and well of all of them.

"Is anyone not ready for this?" Kagome asked, allowing her eyes to scan them all one more time. All she received were looks equal in determination and anger. It was all she needed to see. She nodded once and turned back around.

Without a word they all dove into the mass of tentacles. She wasn't quite sure what it was about this battle as compared to every other battle she had ever been in. But, everything seemed to move so slowly. How could it be that just a few months living with yokai had strengthened her senses and her powers so much?

"_That's not it,"_ a smooth voice she didn't recognize suddenly whispered in her mind.

"What?" she asked aloud, narrowly dodging a tentacle aimed for her heart.

"_It's not specifically you, my dear. I am helping you._"

All of the sudden Kagome knew who it was speaking in her mind and she froze, "Midoriko?"

"_Yes, young one. I have been trapped in this jewel so long, I am ready to be freed. My soul will finally be free when you purify_ _the jewel. Until that can happen I will be helping you as much as I can. It's been a very long time. I've been able to gain no little amount of power while I rested. Why do you think jewel shards give power to those who find them? But, now, I am ready for this life to be over. So you see, my involvement is not entirely without gain for myself._"

"But, the demon you were fighting?"

"_Is helping the hanyou, of course. You didn't think he was capable of such things completely on his own? He is powerful, certainly, but not nearly as powerful as you seem to think. My enemy has concentrated on aiding him. I will concentrate my power on you. Did you think you would be doing this alone?_"

"No…I…" She wanted to say that she had her mate and many others by her side, but it didn't seem as if Midoriko was interested in something so trivial. Kagome found herself wishing that she could see the ancient Miko as well as speak to her. A person could tell so much more when they could see facial expression and she had a feeling that the ancient woman did not really care for her at all, just for her final freedom. She supposed that after having done all Midoriko had done and after being trapped in an eternal battle inside of a jewel for so long, she didn't really have to care about anything except her freedom.

"_Don't worry so, young miko. Concentrate on the hanyou. I will continue to help you._"

"After he's gone, will you speak to me again?" She was a little torn as to whether she wanted Midoriko to speak to her again or not.

"_I will not. I have spent so much time in here, young one. An eternity. When you purify the jewel, I will leave this plane immediately. Please do not think me harsh._"

"After so long I suppose you have a right to be however harsh or gentle you wish."

And Midoriko laughed, a twinkling bell sound that had Kagome smiling just a little, "_Yes, I…Look out!_" The scream cleared all thoughts of Midoriko from her head and she knew two things simultaneously. One was that there was a tentacle headed for her heart and the second was that she would not be able to dodge it. She closed her eyes and waited for the pain.

But it never came. Instead, gentle hands gripped her arms and she heard a soft grunt of pain from a voice she knew all too well. She opened her eyes on a gasp. Her mate stood in front of her, his arms lightly around her upper arms, almost as if he was holding himself in place. She could only stare at him, mouth a little open in shock as he began to sway. He brushed her cheek with one of his clawed hands and she could see his eyes beginning to lose focus.

"I…" He could barely seem to get the words out and she wrapped her own hands around his arms when he coughed and a small amount of blood rolled down his chin, "My…mate…"

"No," she whispered as his eyes closed and he slipped to his knees. She went with him and helped him to lay down, his back to her chest so that she could support him, "Just hold on, my love. You'll be fine."

"Love…" he forced out on a gasp just before his body relaxed in her arms.

"No," she said it a little louder as she held her unmoving mate in her arms tighter, resting his head just above her mating mark praying beyond all hope that she would feel his breath on her neck, but she felt nothing, "No, no, no, no, no." It became her mantra as she rocked him gently, allowing her tears to flow freely.

And when she heard Naraku laughing, she screamed.


	24. Chapter 24

**All previous disclaimers apply.**

Something was off. He knew it before he even attempted to open his eyes. His body tensed as he listened carefully to all that was happening around him. For a battle, it was too quiet. In fact, he could hear nothing at all. The startling realization forced his eyes open though the lids were heavy and all he really wanted to do was stay where he was, prone on the ground, resting if not sleeping. It was the battlefield he saw as he opened his eyes. Yet, something was wrong about the way it looked. The colors, the red of the blood, the green of the tree just above him, they were all muted and the edges were soft as if a fine mist had settled in a thin layer over everything. He stood cautiously, keeping his eye on the tree, mentally checking his body for injuries as he rose. As far as he could tell, he was not harmed. His movements felt slow, as if he was being forced to make them in water, but nothing hurt and nothing pulled as he carefully tested each of his muscle groups. It was a strange sensation, he thought, not to be able to feel the ground under his feet while he still felt his own body. But, he did not allow himself to dwell on it long. The curiosity as to what was happening soon overwhelmed him and he stopped his self-examination. Satisfied, he turned around, and felt his heart stop.

His mate was still fighting the Foul Hanyou. She looked beautiful as her power focused into blasts of color and heat that were disintegrating whatever they touched. He could not help the smile as he realized that she no longer needed her bow to focus her energy. Truly his mate was the most powerful human woman who had ever been born. He roared with fury and tried to rush to her side when a tentacle that had come out of nowhere pierced her shoulder and she was driven to her knees before she reached back, grabbed hold of the tentacle, and purified it completely. When he fell to his knees beside her he reached out to take her in his arms and roared again in anger when his hand went right through her.

"What trick is this?" He screamed to the sky. What had Naraku done now that was keeping him away from his injured and fighting mate?

"No trick," a voice he knew well chuckled darkly from behind him and he whirled around to see Inuyasha, his clothing and eyes bright against the muted colors that surrounded him, "Come on, Sesshomaru, think it through."

Though Inuyasha's voice was gentle and his eyes seemed kind and calm Sesshomaru felt the customary anger rise in his chest. How could Inuyasha, who had attacked his mate, was standing there doing nothing to help her. Sesshomaru began his attack on his brother and was stopped short when he realized that his body was at Inuyasha's feet, muted, pale, and unmoving. He fell to his knees beside it, tried to touch, and moaned in realization when he found that his hand went through as surely as it had when he had tried to touch Kagome. He looked up to see Inuyasha looking down on him, for once a truly open, unguarded expression on his face.

"Understand now?" Inuyasha asked quietly, "It took me a minute, too, to realize what was happening."

Sesshomaru felt a despair unlike anything he had ever known sweep over him, leaving him feeling weak. He moaned again, "I swore to protect her."

"And you did," Inuyasha assured him, offering a hand to help his brother up. Sesshomaru took it, for the first time feeling no animosity toward his brother at all. They were dead. What was the point now? "I watched you die for her, Sesshomaru. You protected her with your life. Now all we can do is wait."

"But, for what?" Sesshomaru asked quietly, even as they began watching Kagome in her single handed battle against Naraku once more. Where had the others gone? He wondered if they were perhaps dead as well. But, then, wouldn't they have been with Inuyasha and himself? He growled deep in his chest as he watched Kagome narrowly dodge a tentacle aimed for her stomach. It was a mistake on Naraku's part, he knew, to do anything that might harm the pups his mate carried inside of herself. It would only make her angry, and when she was angry she was a truly magnificent fighter, especially if she had something to fight for. Inuyasha knew it to be true as well and watched with attentive eyes, mumbling under his breath unintelligibly as they watched Kagome. Sesshomaru knew that he was mumbling battle advice because he was thinking the same exact things, though there wasn't much either of them would change about the way she was fighting.

She was perfection, each movement graceful and deadly as she used her anger to forward her cause. As more and more of Naraku's body was purified away from him the tentacles attacks became harsher, no longer refined. Naraku had progressed beyond trying to kill her gracefully and was just trying to kill her now. She still looked like a creature of pure deadly grace. Perhaps she could win.

"She cannot win, my sons." A voice that Sesshomaru remembered well and Inuyasha had never heard had them both turning. Sesshomaru did not let the tears that flooded his eyes fall as Inuyasha was doing, but he could understand why Inuyasha would cry. It was the first time he had seen his father just as it was the first time Sesshomaru had seen him since he had become almost exactly like him. He had felt guilty over the things that had been said prior to his father's death and had been wishing for months that he had had a chance to apologize. He wondered if he would still be able to allow himself to do it with Inuyasha present.

Inutaisho approached his sons slowly out of the mist that made things fade into the background, just as bright and alive as he had been the last time Sesshomaru had seen him. Both Inuyasha and himself kept their hands to themselves even as their father stopped feet away from both of them. Sesshomaru could see the effort it was costing Inuyasha not to reach for him and knew it was difficult for himself as well, not to reach out and touch his father's armor so well remembered just to see if he was really there. His mind instead caught on what his father had said.

"What do you mean she cannot win? She is the most powerful being who has ever existed." He hissed in his father's face, choosing to get defensive rather than emotional.

"Agreed," his father merely smiled, taking all of the anger away with that one expression, "You chose well for your mate, my son. But, she cannot win because she protects the growing pups within her, as any mother should. The Hanyou will use this to his advantage and she will die, along with the pups, unless something is done."

"What the hell can we do when we're dead?" Inuyasha screamed, frustrated, the joy at seeing his father breaking under the fact that Kagome would die unless someone was there to help her.

"Peace, my son," Inutaisho held up a hand to silence both of his fuming children, "Even in the land of the dead we are not unaware of what happens in the world of the living. When the need is great enough, the very rules of life and death themselves can be broken. It has been decided that the Hanyou must die. He has taken life and death into his own hands and taken lives that were not yet meant to be ended. And so, unto him, we have decided to send the both of you once more."

"What are you saying?" Inuyasha muttered.

"You are both to be given a second chance at life. Take it, defeat the Hanyou, and live well until your true time comes." He lifted his hands and set them to his son's chests, "I am proud of both of you, my sons. And so are your mothers. Until we meet again."

"Father," Sesshomaru looked his father in the eye as the light began to grow. His father just smiled gently and nodded in acknowledgement, understanding. Inuyasha mimicked his brother and set a hand on his father's wrist, connecting them all as the light grew too bright for them to keep their eyes open.

He could feel the light as it faded against his lids and heard the sounds of the fight just behind him, his mate grunting with effort, tentacles rushing by, cutting the air. With a cough he did not expect, he took in a gasping breath and sat up. He could see, just to his left, Inuyasha doing the same. He turned to look at his brother and nodded when Inuyasha grinned and jerked his head in the direction of the half destroyed Naraku.

"Why won't you just die, bitch?" Naraku no longer cared that he had lost his cool exterior, so carefully honed over the years. He wanted the Dog Lord's Bitch dead! He had planned so carefully to break her, giving him ultimate power. It had all been going so perfectly. She had been exactly where he had wanted her. He would have come for her in the next day or two, but then Sesshomaru had shown up and taken her the one place he never would have attacked himself. He was not stupid enough to have anyone but himself go to fetch her, knowing that she would have killed whoever he had sent. And he never would have attacked Nishi himself. One did not go to the enemy, one made sure that the enemy came to you. He knew he would get her out if he let the kit go, so he had done so, but he had never expected in all his years that she would have mated the dog or that they would have gathered all of the lords to rise against him. What should have been the most simple move of all had cost him all of his generals, all of his slaves, and all of his army. As it was, he was going to have to rebuild himself and his forces even after she was dead. Or he could just use, the jewel, he expected. The voice that had whispered in his ear ever since he had taken the jewel shards had assured him of wonders to be had as long as he held the completed, unpurified jewel. He had no doubt, especially with Sesshomaru and Inuyasha dead, that he would kill the annoying priestess. It was just that it was taking so damn long! He was so concentrated on her dodging him, pleased with the way her blood was spilling down her shoulder from the wound he had given her, that he never even noticed Inuyasha until his torso had been grabbed and held from behind.

He twisted his head and gasped, "I watched Sesshomaru kill you!"

"Didn't take," Inuyasha grunted.

"It will this time!" He grunted when, with a burst of pain, the tentacles he had been aiming for Inuyasha's back were destroyed. He turned to see Sesshomaru grinning, an expression he had never seen on the dog Lord, as he nodded to Inuyasha. He didn't even realize what was happening until Inuyasha's hand was through his chest, the jewel clenched in a closed fist.

Kagome wasn't quite sure that she believed what she was seeing as Inuyasha punched his hand through Naraku's chest and tossed the jewel to her. Perhaps Naraku had mortally wounded her and she was lying on the ground, her mind creating a world for her where she could finish what she had started. She might as well, she knew, then maybe her soul could be at peace and she could join her mate. Perhaps in the next world she could still have her babies. She smiled, at peace, seeing her mate appear at Naraku's shoulder. She cocked her head and brought the pieces of the jewel she had been keeping out of the little jar, pushing all of them together and fusing them with her power. Just as the jewel cleared she watched, satisfied as her mate used his claws to decapitate the one who had killed them all. With a smile she made the wish she had always planned to make.

"Let the evil of Naraku be no more."

"_Good work, child,_" Midoriko's voice whispered in her ear even as another screamed in agony.

She looked down at the jewel, now just a pretty piece of glass, and allowed herself to slip to her knees, exhausted. She wished her body would just die already. She was ready to see her mate. As if her thoughts had been heard, Sesshomaru appeared at her side, taking her in his arms and allowing her to rest her head on his shoulder.

"Amazing," she murmured, setting a hand to his face, "You're even more beautiful in death."

"Death?" Sesshomaru smiled. She was wounded, she was exhausted, and she was a little bit more than a little bit confused. He kissed her gently, "Sleep, my mate. You deserve it. All will be well when you waken." He watched as she fell into a peaceful sleep and turned to walk back to the camp. He didn't even blink as Inuyasha fell into step beside him.

"I cannot hate you any longer, brother," Sesshomaru said quietly as they walked, "Not when I will be the sire of hanyou children myself. But, there is too much bad blood and I am afraid that I will always be resentful that you had my mate before I did."

Inuyasha's voice was calm as he answered, "I'm not asking to be your best friend, Sesshomaru. I never could be. That bad blood and all. But, she is important to me. I'll always carry the regret that she is your mate and not mine, even if I take a mate someday, but I can't just abandon her. She's yours, I understand. But, she's my best friend. Please do not ban me from her."

"Would you listen if I did?"

"I…" Inuyasha looked away, "I would try."

"What?"

"I'm trying to respect you, Sesshomaru, as the lord of the Western lands and my older brother. For her."

Sesshomaru looked at him, shocked. Inuyasha just grinned and shrugged.

"But, can we still pound on each other when we get on each other's nerves?"

Sesshomaru just grunted. No, he would never be friends with his brother. But, perhaps they could learn to tolerate each other. For the woman he held in his arm. He looked at Inuysha again. Only for her.

**Author's Note: I have one more chapter planned. I've been thinking of an epilogue containing the birth of the pups, but I'm not sure if I'll do it or not. Please let me know if there's interest in it. If there's enough, I'll make sure to add it! Final chapter should be up late tomorrow! Thanks so much for sticking with this story!**


	25. Chapter 25

**All previous disclaimers apply.**

**Author's Note: Last chapter. There has been a great interest in an epilogue. It will be up just after this is posted!**

It was not quiet. The sound was the first thing Kagome was aware of as she came awake, refusing to open her eyes before she could figure out what sort of situation she was in. Sounds she recognized as being those made in an army camp came to her, fires cracking, cooking vessels being moved to and from the fire, men and women laughing and talking about what they would do when they finally got home, wishing that their lady would just wake up already so that they could break camp. So, they had won. Kagome allowed herself a moment for the grief to wash over her. She had been so sure that she was dying and that she would see her mate again. But, she had defeated Naraku. She wished she could remember how. It was strange that her greatest joy had to be accompanied by her greatest sorrow. But, she still had children and a land to watch over.

She could feel her children with her. They were tucked up on either side of her, small arms crossed over her waist. She knew Shippou's nightmares would not end just because Naraku was dead and it was going to take a long time for him to be back to himself again. She hoped that the stability and protection Nishi gave would help with that. Rin would help, too, she knew. The little girl already loved the kitsune like a brother. She could hear both of their breathing, so calm and steady, peaceful. And someone else…

She opened her eyes, confused, and turned her head. Sesshomaru was sleeping peacefully beside her, one arm stretched across Shippou, herself, and to the center of Rin's little back, holding his family to him. It had been real. The joy blossomed like the sun in her heart. All of the things she had thought a dream, Inuyasha pulling the jewel out of Naraku's body, Sesshomaru decapitating Naraku, it had all been real! And here he was, whole and beautiful beside her. She couldn't stop the laughter from bubbling up inside her and released it, releasing with it all of her anxiety and all of the pain that had been caused by Naraku over the years. It was all finally over and she would be going home with her mate and their children.

Her laughter, so relieved and joyful, brought her family awake. While Sesshomaru just looked at her for a moment, understanding in his eyes, the children sat up, blinking sleepily as they tried to clear the clouds from their minds. She sat up with them and hugged them both close, her joy contagious. They began to laugh as well and Rin placed little kisses to her cheek while Shippou threw his arms around her and held her close. Sesshomaru sat up as well, looking at the three of them, a smile more real and loving on his face than she had ever seen. She reached behind him to cup his neck in her hand and dragged his mouth to hers for a deep kiss that left them both panting and wishing the children weren't still in the tent.

Their private celebration could not last long when they heard the cheer go up from the combined armies at hearing the Lady of the West laughing. With a smile that was young and carefree, one only she and the children would ever see, she knew, Sesshomaru urged them all to dress quickly so they could greet the army. While the children ran to the travelling trunk 

Sesshomaru held her close, careful of her still tender shoulder, and whispered his love while she whispered hers back to him. She felt lighter than she ever had in her life as she began to dress and Sesshomaru would tease by pulling her sash loose or tugging Shippou or Rin's hair to have the children laughing and ready to tackle him playfully. It was a joy to see that in private he would be the loving, playful mate she had always known he could be. She had no illusions though, that he would be anything less than firm and commanding, stoic as he had always been, when they went out of the tent. She was not surprised when it was so, and neither were the children, but she was pleased when he allowed Shippou to hold his hand as they began to walk toward the gathered lords and the remaining army, still a great force.

"Congratulations, Lady Dog, on the victory," The Dragon's voice was rough and yet respectful as he took her hand and kissed her cheek.

"And to you, Lord Dragon," she responded, "Will you go home to your mate now?"

"Yes," the Dragon smiled at her, "My forces were waiting for your awakening first. We will leave within the hour."

"We could not have done this without you," Kagome felt the tears of a bittersweet parting come into her eyes, "Please give my regards to your mate."

The Dragon bowed and backed away, making room for a young eagle to step forward. Kagome had never seen him before and cocked her head as he approached her, his hand on the hilt of the sword she had last seen the Eagle wearing. Her hand flew up to cover her mouth, open in shock. Had both Tsubasa and his father been killed in battle? She felt the tears slip down her face. One look into the eagle's eyes confirmed it. There was a grief and a fear there she had never expected. This eagle, the Eagle, she thought, was so young.

"My Lady," he bowed low to her, "I am Hiroto."

"Also called the Eagle," her voice broke around the words, but he nodded.

"My father and brother would have wanted me to tell you that it was the greatest honor to serve in this battle. They died well and Tsubasa regained his honor."

"Yes," Kagome nodded, setting a hand to the young one's shoulder, "He did. You will be as great a lord as your father, Hiroto. I can see it. Know that forever more you have allies in the West. Allies… and friends."

Hiroto nodded, "Thank you, my lady. Call if ever you have need of us. The Eagles will be forever grateful to you."

"Paru, Miyuki," Kagome smiled gently when she saw her mate's most trusted generals approach her. They lowered themselves to their knees and bowed their heads. She knew that they would all have a celebration together later in private, but that protocol was what was most important at the moment. And so she only touched both of their heads to relay her thanks before moving on.

Kagome couldn't help but release a joyful shout when her eyes scanned those gathered and she saw Kouga, almost all of his body wrapped in bandages, grinning at her. She forgot dignity as she ran to him and threw her arms around his shoulders, surprised into letting go when he released a hiss of pain.

"Careful," he muttered, though he was smiling, "Just about everything hurts."

"But, you're alive!" she laughed, "And whole! I thought…"

"What? That the mangy mutt could kill me? Nah. Not quite whole though. Never gonna see out this eye again." He pointed at a bandage wrapped tightly over his left eye.

"But, not to worry," Ayame practically purred as she wrapped an arm around his waist, "I can be his eyes. A mate is meant to complete her other half, after all."

Kouga and Sesshomaru rolled their eyes as their mates threw themselves into each other's arms and jumped up and down like children, babbling over one another, not really caring what was said as Kagome demanded Ayame tell her everything and Ayame giggled as she revealed the mating mark on her neck.

"Kagome…"

Kagome froze as she heard her name called by a voice she hadn't heard in a very long time, indeed. She turned around to look at her friends, lined up, shame and hope warring on their faces for dominance. Inuyasha was looking down at his feet, Sango chewing on her lip as she held Kirara and looked nervously at Kagome, and Miroku was leaning on his staff, a tired and gentle smile on his face. Kagome felt the tears come into her eyes as she simply looked at them for a moment, too overcome to do much of anything. Then, Miroku held out a hand to her and the dam broke.

"Inuyasha, Sango, Miroku!" she screamed as she took off, throwing herself at all of them. Sango put Kirara down and caught the flying woman in her arms, holding her close even as Inuyasha and Miroku crowded in around the both of them and wrapped arms around the two women. For a while, the four of them simply stood, wrapped around each other, the women sobbing in relief and joy while the men fought to hold back their tears. After a moment the sobs turned to relieved laughter and the four of them stood together, connected, laughing until they had to support each other to remain upright.

"I missed you all so much!" Kagome said when they had finally calmed.

"We knew you would win," Sango answered in response.

"Kohaku?" The question was soft.

"He's at peace now," the answer was softer.

"Miroku, your hand?"

"Full and whole. And meant only for touching the woman who will be my wife," Miroku lightened the mood that had been brought down by leering at Sango and placing his hand squarely on her backside. Kagome could only laugh again when, instead of screaming and slapping, Sango merely blushed at the contact.

"Give us a minute?" Inuyasha requested. Sango and Miroku nodded and moved to talk to Kouga and Ayame.

"So…" Inuyasha looked at the mark on her neck, "You're mated now. To my brother."

"Yes."

"Do you love him?" The question surprised her, but the response was automatic.

"Yes, I do. I wouldn't be carrying his pups if I didn't. You know that."

"Yeah, I guess I do," Inuyasha dragged a hand through his hair, "They should have been mine."

"But they aren't," Kagome shrugged, "And I love Sesshomaru. We can't control fate, Inuyasha, and I wouldn't change mine now if I could."

"I know," Inuyasha smiled and Kagome knew that everything would be alright, "Maybe someday I'll find somebody I feel that way about, too."

"Will you come back with us? To Nishi, I mean. For a while?"

Kagome allowed herself to be pulled into Inuyasha's arms and closed her eyes, curling her fingers into his shirt, as he rocked them both and buried his nose in her hair, "You're my best friend, Kagome. I'll stay as long as you want me."

"I love you, Inuyasha."

"Love you, too."

When he released her she walked calmly back to Sesshomaru and wrapped her arms around his waist, smiling when his arms came around her and his mouth lowered to hers without delay. When the kiss ended she smiled up at him and ran a finger over the mating mark she had left on him. He smiled at her briefly before picking Shippou up and whispering to the young boy, then setting him on his shoulder.

"Go ahead… son," he said quietly, and Kagome watched her son's face light up. She took Sesshomaru's hand in one of her own and Rin's in the other.

"Army of the West!" Shippou shouted at the top of his lungs, his voice reminding her that he wouldn't be a little boy for much long, "Let's go home!"

The resounding cheer shook the earth.


	26. Chapter 26

**All previous disclaimers apply.**

**Author's Note: This is it, everyone! The very end. Thanks so much to all who have stuck with this story. I'm sad to see it go, but I'm also glad it's finished. I hope you have all enjoyed it as much as I have! Till next time! T.H.**

"It shouldn't be much longer now, my lord," Miyuki smiled, her eyes tired, but joyful, as she closed the door behind herself and bowed low to her lord. She kept her eyes down until she was certain that she would be able to control her facial expression when she looked at Sesshomaru. He was looking more haggard than she had ever seen, his clothing in disarray and his hair mussed from running his hands through it too many times. His face was pale and drawn and she wondered if all demons whose mates were in labor looked the same way.

"She is fine?" he asked, his voice revealing what he was trying to hide with his stoic face. It was not unheard of that a woman die in childbirth. The Dragon's own human mate had almost died trying to give birth to a hanyou child.

"She's doing beautifully," Miyuki assured him, "Pups won't be rushed, my lord. But, she's young and strong. She's the one trying to keep Akina and Etsu from panicking. There's pain, but she's bearing up like a warrior."

"Of course," Sesshomaru couldn't keep the pride out of his voice. It was the hardest thing for any demon to wait outside the room while his much loved mate went through labor, but it was impossible for a male to be in the room with her at the same time. A demon's beast would not discern between pain that could be presented and labor pain and might be driven insane by it, potentially hurting those helping with the birthing and his mate at the same time. So, he stayed in the hall, on an uncomfortable chair, waiting for it to be over so that he could see his mate and hold his pups for the first time. He was comforted slightly by the fact that all of the concubines, the slayer, and the Wolf's mate were all in the room with Kagome, keeping her company, taking her mind off the pain. In the early hours of the delivery he had heard them all laughing, even, though as the labor intensified it was not nearly as uninhibited as it had been.

"How are your children, my lord?" Miyuki tried to keep his mind off of what could possibly go wrong, though she had no doubts that nothing would.

"Inuyasha, the monk, and the Wolf are entertaining them," his eyes went back to the door.

"My lord, the labor is about to reach it's most intense. I think it would be best if you would go see to them as well. I will send someone as soon as the birthing is over."

He knew it would be best, so did not argue, but stood, crossed to the door and set his hand lightly against it, pulsing love to Kagome. He felt her response, a pulse of love and reassurance, before he walked away from the door and toward the other end of the castle where his adopted children were busy quietly making toys for their new brother and sister. Rin was sewing together a small doll while Shippou was putting the finishing touches on a small wooden boat. The three men watching them looked exhausted and it made Sesshomaru wonder how long it had been that the children had actually been quiet and calm. The image of three adult men chasing his young made him smirk a little. When they saw him the children jumped to their feet.

"Nothing yet," he assured them as they ran to him, "Almost. Soon."

"Why does it take so long?" Rin huffed.

"Pups won't be rushed," Sesshomaru repeated what Miyuki had told him and sat down so that his children could crawl into his lap and show him what they had made for the new babies. He saw the other three smirking at him, playing the proud papa, but a growl and glare were enough to wipe the smirks off of their faces and have them looking elsewhere. He lost track of time as they waited. His children kept him amused, arguing over what the babies should be named. He realized they had effectively cured him of his nervousness for Kagome merely being who they were. The nervousness came back full force when Etsu came into the room, her face flushed, tired, and radiant.

"She did wonderfully, my lord," Etsu said automatically, "Come meet your new pups!"

Sesshomaru picked his children up in his arms and moved as fast as the hallways would allow back to the other side of the castle where the women and the midwives waited, lining the hall, to congratulate their lord on the additions to his family. He nodded at them all, wanting nothing more than to get to his mate. He slowed just a little when he noticed Inuyasha move to Akina and take the former concubine into his arms. His eyebrow went up when Akina stood on her toes and pressed her mouth firmly to his brothers. The dazed, happy look in Inuyasha's eye when she finally pulled away and let her head rest on his chest left no doubt in Sesshomaru's mind that soon his brother would be mated and there would be one less lady in the castle. Good. Then perhaps Inuyasha would not feel the need to be around so much. Sesshomaru felt that he and his brother had behaved admirably since the battle with Naraku, but it didn't mean that he wanted Inuyasha in the castle for the rest of his life.

The monk and the slayer spoke quietly, both of them smiling as the slayer told her husband the Kagome was wonderful and the monk placed his hand to her stomach where their own child was growing. Idly, Sesshomaru wondered whether he would be expected to entertain the monk and keep his mind off of the fact that his wife was giving birth when her time came. He knew Kagome would want to be by the slayer's side, but the monk was not a friend of his. He decided not to worry about it as he went through the door and saw his mate, sitting quietly on the bed she had asked be built for her before her time came. She had been very pregnant at the time and he had not been able to deny her anything. Though, it had been a reasonable request and she had not demanded ridiculous things as he had been warned some pregnant women were wont to do. No, she had simply gotten sweeter, more affectionate as her time neared until he was ready to do anything to make sure that she was happy. Inuyasha and the Wolf had told him more than once that he would have fallen all over himself if Kagome's eyes were even to show a hint of tears and he had not been able to deny it.

She looked as sweet and beautiful now as she ever had. Her hair had been brushed and braided, her face scrubbed. She was cooing to the squirming bundles in her arms, but looked up when he came into the room and set their children on the floor. They all waited until she looked up at them.

"Hello, my love, my sweethearts. Come meet our babies." The children ran to her automatically even as he was closing the door behind him. He turned to warn them to be gentle, but found that they had slowed and were climbing onto the bed carefully to join her in looking at the pups.

"They have ears like Inuyasha!" Shippou giggled as Sesshomaru crossed the room and sat on the bed with them. Kagome nodded, laughing quietly, before she allowed Sesshomaru to reach for one of the pups.

"Your daughter, my lord," She smiled like the sun.

"Her name?" Sesshomaru asked as he took the pup and looked down at her, a love he had never expected filling his chest. Just minutes old and he would kill for his pups, die for them. He smiled down at the little one, looking up at him intelligently through his own golden eyes. He laid her on the bed and unwrapped her, taking stock of her deep black hair, counting her fingers, her toes. Shippou perched at his shoulder, looking on as well, smiling at his youngest sister.

"Hotaru," Kagome answered his question about the girl's name on a yawn.

"Shippou, Rin," Sesshomaru wrapped Hotaru in her blanket once more, "Your mother is tired. Come, kiss her goodnight, and the babies. You'll see them tomorrow."

"Yes, Papa," Both children answered in unison and did as they were told, kissing their mother and the babies, then placing the toys they had made in the bassinet where the babies would sleep for the next few months. Sesshomaru couldn't help the smile as they ran from the room, giggling, ready to tell everyone they saw about their new babies. He sighed in content as he place Hotaru in the bassinet and she closed her eyes to sleep. Kagome handed him the other pup and he felt an automatic tug on his heart, almost painful, when the little male's tiny hand wrapped around his finger automatically.

"Your son, Arashi, my lord," Kagome smiled, watching contentedly as her mate went through the same routine as he had gone through with their daughter, unwrapping him, examining his fingers and toes, then wrapping him again and placing him in the bassinet. Black hair and golden eyes, just like his sister. As soon as the pups were settled Sesshomaru turned to help Kagome lay down on her side. When she was comfortable, he laid down behind her, wrapping his arm around her waist and holding her close, taking in the sweet scent of her hair.

"Have I pleased, my lord mate?" she asked, even as she was falling asleep.

"Very much, my lady love," he answered, kissing her neck gently.

"I love you, Sesshomaru."

"And I love you, my Kagome."

He felt the moment she fell asleep and allowed himself to relax against her. He had never dreamed that something like this would be possible for someone like him. He had never imagined that one day he would be laying in a bed in the middle of the day with his mate, a human, while their new pups, hanyou pups, slept quietly in a bassinet and never want to have to move. He kissed Kagome's hair and closed his eyes, thankful now for having caught her scent on a night when all he had been expecting was a rut with a willing female. His lands were safe, his mate was beautiful and strong, she and his four children filled his heart as he had never wanted and now could never imagine living without. He was happy, he realized, a small smile on his face, as he allowed himself to drift to sleep.


	27. Chapter 27

Hello, all!

Just wanted to let everyone know that the first chapter of "In Time of Silver Rain," the sequel to "In His Arms," is now up! Please let me know what you think!

Thanks so much!

The Telepathic Hawk


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